Spring Break
SJSU's Vietnamese Student Association still strong at 30
Rie Nakanishi
Issue date: 11/17/08 Section: Student Culture
|
The club was first established in 1978 to encourage students to get involved with the Vietnamese community that was growing in San Jose at the time, according to the introduction on the
club's Facebook.
"A lot of people don't know much about (the Vietnamese culture)," Nguyen said of the younger generation of Vietnamese-Americans losing their ties to and interests in the Vietnamese culture.
The club now consists of 40 to 60 active members, mostly Vietnamese-Americans who were either born in the U.S. or came to this country when they were young, Nguyen said. The club also has some Chinese and Filipino members.
Nhat Phung, a sophomore accounting information systems major, is a new member and also one of the students who immigrated to the U.S. at the age of 8.
"I just wanted to get some contacts with all the Vietnamese people at school and just learn more about my culture," he said. "I can relate to (the Vietnamese students) more than people from other nationalities."
The club tries to hold an event every week, whether it's small or big, Nguyen said.
Although it is a Vietnamese club, the members are trying to incorporate the Vietnamese culture as well as the American culture into the events they hold.
"Some events have (the elements of) the Vietnamese culture. Some events, we go toward the American culture since a lot of us are here in the U.S.," Nguyen said.
One of the recent big events was attending the United Vietnamese Student Associations of Northern California (UVSA) summit at University of California, Davis, in which VSAs from different universities came together with the Vietnamese community.
Kevin Nguyen, a freshman international business major and a new member of VSA, said that through attending the summit, he learned about his heritage and culture.
"I came here when I was three, so I do want to keep in touch with my culture and learn more about it," he said. "(An event like the summit) helps being a Vietnamese-American because you don't want to lose your roots."
Be the first to comment on this story