Entering the office beneath the Library/Learning Crossroads, the sound of Reggae music gave welcome to the space as it drowned out the chatter that came from the clusters of students scattered throughout the room.
Multi-colored balloons lined up the ceilings of the room where more than thirty students lounged in orange sectionals as they played games including Pictionary and snacked on chips and pizza.
This was the Student Celebration Day that took place Wednesday, May 14 in the Pierce College Associated Students (ASO) office located in the Library/Learning Crossroads Building.
The celebration was the first half of the ASO’s Back 2 Back Semester Ender event which included the Spring Festival the day after.
Svetlana Minassian, 21, an ASO senator and communications major at Pierce said the event’s focus was to promote and recruit.
“During this event, we’re really trying to familiarize people with our space since we did move,” Minassian said. “We want people to mingle and give them a chance to see what the ASO is.”
The ASO is a student government organization on campus whose goal, according to their website, is “to create a better environment for an overall academic experience through leadership.”
Iqra Hamid, 21, the social cultural committee chair for the ASO, co-hosted the event with Krishna Ayungao, club council president for the ASO. They advertised the event through posters, flyers and social media.
“It was originally going to be the grand opening for the space but since the space had been open for a long time already we decided to celebrate students instead,” Hamid said.
The new spacious office, Hamid said, is a place the ASO is looking to use to create and promote student life on campus.
“We’re actually going to get ping-pong tables,” Hamid said. “It’s just supposed to be a place where students can relax and with this event we wanted to show that.”
Hamid, who brought her laptop to the event to play Karaoke as a form of entertainment, together with other senators from the ASO also brought board games and video games.
Many of the attendees including Omri Gabay, a computer science major at Pierce, lingered throughout the event that lasted six hours.
“This event turned out so awesome,” Gabay said. “I love it. There’s like a whole video game tournament going on over there,” Gabay said, pointing at one of the meeting rooms.
“People should come over here and make the most out of this space,” Gabay said. “It’s all about building the campus community that I so long strive for.”
Hamid encouraged anyone who wishes to make a difference on campus or voice their concerns to join the student senate or club council.
“We are the voice of the students,” Hamid said. “We wanted to have an impact on this campus so we joined to try and change things and make it better for us.”
The ASO hosts weekly meetings on Tuesdays at 1 p.m. in their office. For more information, feel free to visit their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pierceaso or visit their website at http://www.piercecollege.edu/offices/a_s_o/index.asp.
