This piece was submitted by John Woodhouse (10, J&C).

The Asian Student Community (ASC) is a club at Manual that meets on the first Monday of every month from 2:30-3:30 p.m., that aims to create a safe space for Asian and non Asian-American students at Manual.

“It’s a place for Asian-American students, or anyone, to learn more about the Asian culture […] unite each other and meet new friends, a place just to hang out, [a] stress-reliever,” said Vivian Pham (12, MST), vice president of ASC.

In its second year, ASC aims to connect the Asian and Asian-American community at Manual across all five magnets.

“There are some magnets, that if you’re Asian in that magnet […] you might not have classes with people that look like you,” said Ben Rhee (11, MST), President of Asian Student Community, “You might not have the community you need at school, so this is just a place where they can meet people easily that they can relate better to.”

Members of ASC join to build relationships with other peers, learn about Asian cultures or mentor underclassmen.

“(If) you’re just interested in the culture […] then you can come to an ASC meeting […] everyone can attend and experience this new culture that they may or may not have experienced themselves,” Pham said.

“ASC allows the Manual Asian students to get together and get to know each other more and it helps give a sense of unity,” Rafael Mediodia (10, VA) said, “It allowed me to know the Asian upperclassmen better.” 

The club’s focus has shifted this year from past years.

“Last year it was more focused on some announcements,” Rhee said, “This year it’s more focused on trying to do more community outreach. So this year we want to conduct a Lunar New Year festival, so we’re trying to find out the logistics of that […] We also want to find out different outreaches with refugees within the area.”

The club also has goals for its members, as well as its activities throughout the year.

“We have a very unique experience being able to go here […] we want them to make the best out of their experience by having [a] community,” Rhee said.