Pierce College Associated Student Organization (ASO) hosted its annual Grad Fest in the Student Engagement Center on Thursday, May 22, to create a one-stop shop for students.
In prior years, ASO hosted Grad Fest at Shepard Stadium days before graduation, but they decided to change course this year and try something new.
With graduation approaching on June 10, students got the opportunity to decorate their grad caps with supplies provided by ASO. There was also a station where students could decorate a plain white shirt or plain trucker hat as memorabilia.
STEM major Maria Portillo expressed how it feels to be able to come to an event like this and decorate her grad cap.
“It feels nice, I’m here with my friend decorating the caps, and it’s nice we can bounce off ideas and it’s just a nice time to be here,” Portillo said.
Cognitive science major Elaine Young explained why she decided to decorate her cap for graduation.
“I think it’s all for fun and looks, it’s really cute,” Young said. “Also, from far away I feel your family can recognize you easier than if the cap was just black and other people have on black caps.”
Students were able to pick up their honors and transfer cords if they are eligible, along with the opportunity to ring a bell to celebrate their transferring.
Young shared how it feels to be able to come and creatively celebrate graduation by decorating her cap.
“It’s wonderful. I feel like people usually don’t really know what to do or don’t know if they have the supplies to,” Young said. “It gives us students an opportunity to just come by and decorate if we want to. There’s a lot of supplies here. Since it’s such a long time frame, too, I think it gives students time to come over.”
ASO Adviser Lara Conrady Wong elaborated on why the event took place in the Student Engagement Center rather than the stadium this year, and what she’d do differently in years to come.
“The thing I would adjust for next year would be to make it the whole day, so that we can catch as many students as possible,” Wong said. “The main reason we had it down here, not up there, is for students to have ease and access to these things during a really stressful time when they’re trying to finish and getting transcripts and doing all these other things. Everything is here in this one space.”
Wong expressed what it means to her to see students be able to express themselves through their caps and T-shirts.
“ASO is proud of them. It’s one way we can show our support for graduates, and it’s a really fun thing that students do together,” Wong said.
