Graphic by Audrey Kim
By Eve Cohen
Features Reporter
If you walked into a meeting of the Asian Student Organization (ASO), you would probably find them playing a Kahoot, having a potluck, or planning a boba sale to raise money for Asian Night, the end-of-year event to celebrate Asian culture among South students.
No matter the activity, this welcoming community bonds over their shared experiences and a mutual love for Asian culture which has become more important than ever in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
ASO’s goal is to “promote Asian culture throughout the school and bring people together to enjoy,” said senior Iris Yang, one of the senior officers of the club.
In a normal school year, this would consist of games, activities, and conversations about Asian culture in their meetings every other week, but this year, ASO has had to adapt to a remote environment.
Last spring, like many communities at South, ASO was thrown off course by the abrupt shift to online classes. It was hard to organize even regular club meetings and impossible to duplicate the traditional Asian Night online.
This fall, ASO has had more time to plan, and they are entering the year with a variety of ideas to replicate the in-person community experience. “We are thinking of possibly doing cooking lessons, streaming Asian movies, and [having] talks about each other’s cultures to get to know each other better,” explained Yang.
In addition to restructuring around a pandemic, ASO has faced a unique challenge with the heightened racism against Asians brought on by the coronavirus. Due to the fact that the virus originated in China, hate has been consistently directed towards Chinese Americans and Asian Americans in general throughout the pandemic.
Students like sophomore Isaac Chan, the communications assistant for ASO, felt that the impact of this has made ASO an even more valuable resource. “I think ASO is really important this time of year because we’ve really been talking about the community as [being] super important, especially within our school,” said Chan.
The rise in racism towards Asians resulted in another obstacle for Asian students at South. “A lot of Asian-Americans felt hesitant to embrace their Asian culture and wanted to blend in and not put a target on their backs,” revealed senior Stephanie Tian, another senior officer of the club.
ASO has sought to provide a safe space for these students, a place where they can feel comfortable being open and proud about their heritage. As Tian reiterated, “Some [members] had mentioned wanting to join ASO to actually embrace their culture, to surround themselves with others that they share experiences with, and that’s what we are here to do.”
As Newton South has placed more of an emphasis on anti-racism this year, groups like ASO have also had conversations with the administration about their unique experiences.
Even before the pandemic, Asian and Asian American students have faced obstacles at Newton South. “My opinion is that I feel like Asian Americans do fall into that stereotype very well of being the model minority, and being smart, and good at math, and quiet, most of the time… what I’ve seen is a lot of students feel like they have to fit into that role, and that’s kind of a basis of their identity, and that’s an issue,” said Tian.
Many of these students feel forced to conform to this stereotype simply due to their Asian identity. “No one should feel like they have to play into a part if they don’t want to,” said Tian; however, Newton South has a lot of work to do to dismantle this pressure on our Asian students, and ASO is involved in the effort.
While Asian students may often feel compelled to not share their opinions, Yang explained that starting conversations is the first step, saying, “if we could organize more talks around this and share about our own racial experiences with the rest of the school, that would be much better and slowly break down barriers.”
Outside of the smaller ASO community, the club is always looking for ways to promote their appreciation of Asian culture, as well as their experiences of being Asian at Newton South, to the larger community at South. To join ASO is to join an inclusive community of students who strive to bond over Asian culture and celebrate it, and they embrace any new members or visitors who have an interest in this culture.
“I think one of the biggest things about ASO, regardless of if it’s online or in person, is that it is mainly community building. So regardless of what we do, we try to make our community bigger,” said Chan.
