Asian American Association (AAA) and Southeast Asian Student Association (SEASA) hosted Boba Night on Oct 24 in the Foods Room, G03. Students paid $7 to participate, or if they filled out an earlier RSVP form, the cost was $5.
Excluding officers, around 10 people showed up to the event. Officers were boiling boba pearls and tea on the stove. Afterwards, students could come and assemble the drinks themselves.
“It’s easy to make, and no one really sees the process behind making boba,” AAA president Gisele Fan said. “I think it’s just cool to assemble it on your own and just enjoy it.”
The clubs hosted boba night because it was a popular drink enjoyed by many students, SEASA president Kensie Vongchanh said. The drink itself is pretty universal, she added.
“I feel like Boba is also a huge staple in Asian foods or desserts,” Vongchanh said. “It’s also just something easy and fun that students can help make.”
A lot of clubs host events on their own, but AAA wanted to collaborate with SEASA, Fan said. Plus, SEASA helped bring in the Thai tea, she added.
“They also brought in more people, so more people could have fun at this event,” Fan said. “And I think it’s just a good way to meet other CLOGs.”
Collaborating with an established club like AAA helped bring more publicity to SEASA as well, Vongchanh said.
“SEASA is a new club, so we haven’t really branched out yet,” she added. “And we just thought it’d be a fun idea because we would also get to share Thai tea, and I know a lot of people enjoy that.”
Freshman Charis Wong attended because she liked boba and her sister was an officer for one of the clubs, she said. Wong enjoyed the event, she added.
“Watching them make the boba was really cool,” Wong said. “It was really fun.”
A lot of members showed up to the bonding, Fan said.
“A lot of people brought their friends,” she added. “They’re all hanging out in” the food’s room.
Overall, Fan is happy with the turnout of the event, she said.
“A lot of people showed up for a small bonding like this,” Fan added.
Vongchanh is also happy with the event’s turnout, she said. If the clubs publicized the event more, they could have gotten more members to show up, she added.
“Since it’s colder and later in the year, maybe people don’t want to drink boba right now,” Vongchanh said. “If we do it again, like maybe in the summer or when school first starts, I think we would have more people who would love to join us and make boba.”
AAA has more events planned after Boba night, Fan said.
“We will have dumpling night in November, hopefully,” Fan added. “If not, then next semester.”
