Cultures of the world are coming to campus this week as the International Student Association hosts “I-Week,” a week of events intended to entertain and educate the student body.
This year will see the debut of new activities such as “I-Henna,” where students will have the opportunity to participate at Rudder Plaza while on the way to class Tuesday.
“This year we have also added I-Henna, which has become very popular because people, especially girls, are so crazy about henna,” said Yashwant Vyas, junior electrical engineering major. “Henna does not belong to a particular country, so we are going to have representatives from different international groups applying henna specific to their culture.”
ISA president Sakshi Gupta said another addition to I-Week this year is “I-Games,” a competition styled after the Amazing Race where teams will have to rush to complete tasks all over campus.
“There will be six different stations across campus,” Gupta said. “Once teams complete the game, they will collect the flag from that location. The team which comes back with the six flags will get a $15 gift card and a plaque just to celebrate that they won.”
Gupta said ISA is taking a more philanthropic approach to this year’s I-Week, with an admission cost for I-Games of five canned goods to be donated to the 12th Can Food Pantry. Admission costs for all other events will also be donated to charity.
“Whatever profit we are earning is going completely to a cause,” Gupta said. “It is going to Child Rights and You, which works for educating and fulfilling the lives of the underprivileged in developing countries.”
Along with the addition of new events to I-Week, ISA has also set its sights on improving previous favorites. After reading evaluations of last year’s I-Wedding event, Yvas said ISA worked to improve seating arrangements, the venue and the overall coordination of the event.
“This year we will have it in Rudder Plaza and we will be having seating arrangements for everyone,” Yvas said. “The performances that we have lined up for this year have been rehearsed before and we are going to pass out handouts of what exactly is going to happen so people have that information.”
Yvas said this I-Wedding will be special due to the inclusion of a mock North Indian wedding and a sword taiji performance by Suzanne Droleskey, Texas A&M executive director for global program support effectiveness and instructor at Confucius Institute Tai Chi.
Junior economics major Daniella Djiogan said there have also been improvements made to I-Fashion, a showcase of fashion from different cultures, which she said is the most anticipated event of I-Week.
“This year we’re actually collaborating with A-Line Aggies, the fashion organization on campus,” Djiogan said. “They provided us with eight models representing different cultures from African cultures to European cultures, so it’s going to be really fancy.”
Djiogan said this weeklong celebration of cultures is a chance for international students to make their backgrounds known and their voices heard.
“To be honest, A&M is kind of homogenous,” Djiogan said. “There’s nothing international going on on-campus for a whole year, so I-Week is basically the time for any culture to show themselves, to say, ‘This is us, this is our culture, this is who we are.'”
Vyas said by attending the events of I-Week, students better prepare themselves for the increased cross-culture communication of the future.
“If you look at the rapid globalization that is taking place and if you want to see yourself in a complex multicultural society, come experience the different cultures, come see what the international students here at A&M have to offer,” Vyas said. “It’s the biggest cultural treat you can ever have at A&M.”