Last year, for my birthday, I was feeling very homesick because it was the first time I was spending it away from home. I did not plan much for that day--I just stayed in my room and watched a movie. It was also a weekday so I knew I was going to do something with my friends that weekend so I wasn't too sad.
Around 5 PM, the president of my A5 (Association for Asian and Asian American Awareness) club reached out to me and asked me if I could get her the posters that we needed for our next event and if I had some construction paper for the activity we were planning. I told her that I would meet her at the Campus Center and hand over everything that she needed. She, however, said that she was already in my residence hall and that she would just stop by my room.
A few minutes later, someone knocked on the door and I knew it was Miharu (the president for A5), but when I opened the door, it was all of the board members from the club singing "happy birthday" to me, with a cake in their hands. They all hugged me and I started crying because I had not expected such a thoughtful gesture like that from anyone. When we sat down and talked about how they had been planning it all along, I learned that that they all had exams the next day but they had taken an hour from their busy day to celebrate me.
I have always considered A5 a big part of my college life, but that moment, I knew they were my homies here on campus. Small gestures like that are what keep me going throughout the semester. The celebration was unexpected and full of love. I can only imagine the next few years and what we do as a cultural awareness building team, and also as a family.
~~Suzaine Pador, Class of '22
Let's create more spaces of thoughtfulness for our students on campus. Click the link to donate and show some love for students who may think they've been forgotten.
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