From Feb. 20 to Feb. 23, UHS held its annual Cultural Awareness Week, geared towards celebrating cultural diversity across campus through fashions, traditions and customs. Although this event has concluded, these clubs are continually dedicated to celebrating their culture throughout the school year.
A variety of culture clubs are well-established throughout campus, ranging from Chinese Chess and Culture Club to Arab Culture Club. A comprehensive list of all UHS clubs can be found in this document, in which one can explore the mission statements and meeting times for any culture club they may be interested in joining.
Although organized by many distinct nationalities, each club shares the goal of embracing its customs and culture as a tight-knit community on campus. There are numerous ways to celebrate one’s culture, and for the Korean Culture Club, that comes in the form of fun, highly engaging activities.
“We’re not just about enjoying the culture; we’re here to share it,” Korean Culture Club Vice President Sean Lee said. “Our activities range from interactive language lessons to playing Kahoot and K-pop.”
Other clubs also incorporate a more instructional approach. For one, the Persian Culture Club uses its meetings to teach its members about Persian culture and customs, such as how Halloween is celebrated in Iran, what instruments are played and the history of Mehregan, an Iranian festival.
Just this semester, UHS’ first Japanese Culture Club was formed by junior Nina Chen, who created it when she realized that her culture hadn’t been represented as a club before.
“I think part of the reason is because there aren’t as many Japanese people [at UHS],” Chen said. “Japanese culture is very popular though, so I’m guessing there wasn’t anybody to step up to make a club. As a Japanese myself, I wanted to create a space for UHS students to explore and bond over Japanese culture.”
With the final few months of the spring semester left, these culture clubs still aim to hold many activities.
“We’re planning to help out in the OC Japan Fair 2024 as a club in April,” Chen said. “There will be many volunteering opportunities and it’s a great way to experience some popular Japanese [customs] including J-pop music, kimono models shows, tasty foods and anime merchandise.”
These activities, no matter how small, play a huge role on our campus, especially with Irvine’s diverse population and America being known as a “melting pot” of cultures; they provide opportunities to form connections while allowing students to embrace cultural diversity. With both Cultural Appreciation Week and the representation fostered by culture clubs here on campus, the appreciation of cultures within UHS allows us to create a much more vibrant community.
