Although Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month is officially in May, USC celebrates early—before students leave for summer break. Today’s event at Founders Park brought students, performers, and community members together under the theme “Strength Through Community.”
Everyone came to celebrate over origami crane making, lantern decorating, Thai tea, Indian food, and a live band performing K-pop songs.
Heesoo Kim, a sophomore majoring in human biology and the vice president of USC’s Korean band Kori, was one of those live performers.
“I think the biggest thing was to share a lot of like Korean songs, especially in a band style,” she said.
Gwyneth To, a sophomore studying human development and aging, said community and food go hand-in-hand.
“It means forming a really strong community, bonding over food,” To said.
Taylor Altman, a junior majoring in public relations and advertising, attended last year’s celebration and returned for the same reason.
“Last year it was just like a lot of community as well, really easy to talk to people and people are really eager to build that sense of community so I wanted to come back,” Altman said.
Nireeksha Gandhi, a first-year master’s student in architecture, reflected on reconnecting with her identity.
“I’m very Brown. And I was like, you know what, this is cool to explore being Asian and celebrate it. And then growing up, not really the case. So it feels good to connect with it,” she said. “That you can take your own twist on life with how you grew up and learn from your ancestors and culture and give it a new meaning based on who you are, where you are right now.”
Altman also said being part of a community means showing up as your true self.
“Being my authentic self and getting to connect with people who have shared the same experiences as me,” Altman said.
Sophia Cho, a junior majoring in law, history and culture, said the celebration made her feel seen.
“I personally identify as an Asian American woman and so any chance to celebrate that is really a great time for me,” said Cho. “I’m honestly really excited to go around to all the tables. They have such cute decorations and I think the music artists are amazing.”