The Asian Student Union (ASU) held its final event of the semester on Friday with a sunset send-off, initially planned to take place on the lawn outside the Campanile.
Due to issues with weather, most of the event was moved inside the Student Innovation Center, where attendees were treated to snacks and given the opportunity to participate in various activities to celebrate the end of another semester.
ASU, a student organization open to all students, started back up during the spring 2024 semester and has held many different events throughout its time at Iowa State. Some of these included a recreation of the hit Netflix series “Squid Games,” a spicy ramen challenge, mocktail mania and an EDM night.
Jaelyn Luong, a graduating senior in culinary arts and president of ASU, shared her thoughts on the end of her career as president of the organization.
“It’s bittersweet, I guess,” Luong said. “It’s all coming to an end… I’m excited and a little sad, you know, mixed emotions.”
Luong also shared some takeaways from her time as president of ASU.
“Initially, I just wanted to start a big community and have everyone come together,” Luong said. “A safe space for everyone to come together and do activities, and I think just hit those marks.”
Recently, ASU held elections to determine who would lead the organization in the fall and elected Brandon Chantamarinh, a junior in agricultural communication, as its next president. Chantamarinh shared his plans for ASU in the coming semester.
“I do want to continue our fun general meetings,” Chantamarinh said. “For example, like EDM night, that was really fun… but some ideas I have for next year is I want to increase our outreach… I want to just overall increase our community outreach and build community here, whether that is continuing volunteering or getting businesses here to speak.”
While on the topic of community, Chantamarinh shared a message for those interested in joining ASU.
“We are an open community,” Chantamarinh said. “You can come to any of our events, regardless of your background or interest. We’ll always be here. We’re always a welcome community, and there is always someone to talk to at our meetings.”
Diego Camarena, a junior in industrial design and multimedia chair for ASU, shared his thoughts on the community he has found while being part of the club.
“For me, it’s just more of a community of open-minded people,” Camarena said. “Even if you’re not originally from this community, everyone’s very open and welcoming to new people, which I think is really cool because it’s more about celebrating cultures and getting people together.”
Camarena also talked about what Iowa State would miss without a club like ASU.
“I’ve talked to a lot of people that say, like before they came to ASU they hadn’t found their crowd yet,” Camarena said. “A lot of people miss out on that sense of community.”
For more information about ASU, visit their Instagram page.