On May 13, Carrollton’s Asian Student Union hosted a tea sale on the piazza. The group sold a variety of teas such as matcha, jasmine, and chai. The purpose of the event was to inform the greater Carrollton community about Asian culture and celebrate Asian food. “We wanted everyone to learn about the origins of their favorite drinks because sometimes people drink tea and they don’t really know what it is,” said the club founder and president Nina Heffron ‘27. “I feel like that is something cool that people can learn about.” As students, faculty, and staff sipped their tea, they could also read about the history of different Asian teas on colorful posters.
The tea sale was ASU’s first fundraiser as the group was formed in January of this year. Earlier this semester, ASU led a school assembly that taught students how to make origami paper cranes. Throughout the month of May, it focused on educating the Carrollton community on Asian culture during Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.
But Heffron hopes that ASU will be able to raise awareness of Asian culture year round. As a new student at Carrollton last year, she noticed that Asian students lacked representation at school. “I wanted to start the Asian Student Union because I wanted to educate people on AAPI (Asian and Pacific Islander) culture, but also build community through learning about it,” she said.
So far, Heffron is proud of ASU’s progress in its short time at Carrollton. She is excited to see how it will develop in future years. “What I want for the Asian Student Union is for it to become something bigger than just 20 people trying to bring awareness to Asian culture,” she said.
Heffron hopes everyone will be inspired to learn more and participate in ASU activities. “I feel like it is something that is really cool, that brings people together when they know about it. And even if you are not Asian, it leaves us feeling more connected when we are all aware of each other’s backgrounds,” she said.
