Cypress College students gathered in front of the Humanities building to receive drinks and snacks for the colleges Lunar Year event. As well as waiting for the event organizers to set out their performance materials and enjoy the show. Photo by Gabi Garcia.
STORY BY AIDEN EISEL, STAFF WRITER
PHOTOS BY AIDEN EISEL BY GABI GARCIA, CO-EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Cypress College celebrated the Lunar New Year, an annual celebration that welcomes the new year in many Asian countries, on Feb. 8, 2024.
As someone who is part-Asian and celebrates Lunar New Year annually, I know there’s more to it than red envelopes and family gatherings. It’s a celebration very similar to what we celebrate in the United States when the New Year strikes.
Attending the event on campus, I got to speak with a few students of Asian descent and asked them their thoughts on the celebration, how they usually celebrate the Lunar New Year, and what the New Year means to them. Also, seeing the way the school decided to celebrate and how many people would turn up to see the event, all pondered in my mind.
A lot of the answers that I got were similar, most of them said that they were there for the boba and the egg rolls, but did mention they felt it was good for the Asian students. I also interviewed people of Vietnamese, Chinese, and Filipino descent to learn their opinions.
Kenneth Ramos, a hospitality and management major said, “It’s nice to see these aspects of cultures and how they celebrate things and the concepts within themselves and wish everyone a good life, fortune, and wealth.”
One last thing I’d like to point out is what they did for the celebration. I’m going to say I was a little surprised that they brought out actual Chinese dragons and danced around to the beat of a drum band, which is peak Chinese culture and celebration.
The dragons that were brought out during the celebration. Photos by Aiden Eisel.
I thought the celebration was great and hearing what it meant to the Asian students on campus was refreshing and a good thing for anyone to attend. I think the school did an amazing job promoting Asian culture and bringing it to the campus.
