ISCO partners with VSA for Vietnam Market

Students get a taste of Vietnam at Night Market. Caroline Marshall photos

HAL Hall was filled with the sounds of students singing, playing games and sipping drinks Wednesday Night as the International Student Cultural Organization (ISCO) held its Vietnam Night Market.

Partnering with the Vietnamese Student Association (VSA) and local restaurant Rice and Broth, ISCO had a night of showing off Vietnamese culture.

“The general idea is to introduce other international students and domestic students to their culture,” said Dr. Jay Valentine, staff adviser for ISCO and associate professor of history.

Students had the chance to hand-make Vietnamese-style spring rolls, drink Vietnamese coffee, play traditional Vietnamese games and sing karaoke throughout the night.

Mystic Wilkes, ISCO representative and senior interdisciplinary studies major from Douglas, Georgia, explained the importance of the event and fostering community between students.

“I didn’t even know there was a Vietnam Student Association until I contacted a student here, and they said ‘Oh yeah, we would love to do that,’” Wilkes said. “That goes to show, even ISCO, being the international student cultural organization, we don’t know everyone.

“We want to invite everyone to come out and share a community.”

Hong Tan, a graduate computer science student and VSA vice president, also talked about fostering community through introducing students to Vietnamese culture.

“We try our best to create an environment to connect students from different countries,” Tan said. “We connect the people, try to let them to explore and play Vietnamese games.”

Tan further expressed his excitement for the event’s turnout.

“I was in the games station and many people reached out to me,” Tan said. “There’s a really [large] crowd that’s vibrant, also.”

Valentine talked about how the event contributed to Vietnamese representation on campus.

“You’re moving towards a world of peace by getting to think of everybody in familiar terms,” Valentine said. “People are happy to be sharing, and people are happy to be enjoying other people’s culture.”

Whether it was making food and drinks, playing games or even karaoke, students were introduced to different parts of Vietnamese culture.

ISCO and VSA plan to have more events throughout the semester. ISCO plans to hold its annual Peace Walk and ISCO Festival, and VSA plans to have more opportunities for students to play Vietnamese games. You can find ISCO and VSA on Instagram @isco_troyu and @troy.vsarespectively.