Cosumnes River College held its first Asian Pacific-Islander event that showcased a variety of student performances inside the WINN building on April 11.

Sociology professor Huong Ninh organized this event along with her students. The event was attended by students, faculty and a few parents who supported the performers.

“The important of a cultural event like this to have a good time and get to have a little understanding of other people’s culture,” said 19-year-old communications major Anthony Yang.

According to Ninh, this was the first time they did something like this and did not know what to compare it to. She said that some students recruited their friends to help out during the event.

Yang was part of the opening act, which was a hip-hop dance performance. During the event, he said that performing in these types of events was fun and interesting.

“It’s not my first time performing and it won’t be my last either,” Yang said. “ It’s nice to see people come out.”

In addition to the showcase, complimentary food was provided for the guests that were lined up outside the room.

The performance was then followed up by a poetry recital from 20-year-old communications major Jac Cha. The name of his poem was “Welcome to America,” and talked about the trials and tribulations that he and his family faced as a first-generation immigrant.

After his performance, Cha was able to provide insight his poem’s inspiration.

“That poem was a take on an individual’s life that had to come from a first-generation family,” Cha said. “A lot of other Asian-American students are from first-generation families and they can understand the struggles of being constricted by certain cultural aspects.”

After Cha’s poem, the fashion show segment of the event started. Pairs of models representing a various Asian countries walked down the middle aisle while wearing the country’s traditional garments.

The fashion show was followed up by two ethnic dances from student performers and the celebration ended with a group picture from all the people involved.

“We were happy with the turnout because there seems to be a lot of interest among students and the faculty,” Ninh said. “To hear the students performing, sharing their creative production is really empowering, not only for them but for me and the people, in audience as well.”