Bridgewater, VA. June Holm is the president of the Asian Student Association, otherwise known as ASA, which is one of Bridgewater College’s identity organizations.
“It is a fun and educational club where any students can join to learn and try new or old yummy asian food and holidays,” said June Holm, a third year art student at Bridgewater College.
The people who make the food and plan the holiday events are known as “E-Board members.” “E-Board members are students who are behind the scene running the club to make sure events and activities run smoothly,” Holm said.
ASA’s E-Board is made up of a president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, event coordinator and a Bridgewater College Student Association Representative. ASA also has a faculty advisor. The advisor “allows us to run our club and helps with funding,” said Holm.
One of the holidays that ASA celebrates is the Moon Festival. The Moon Festival is “a festival, also called the Mid-Autumn Festival, about a woman and her pet rabbit being stuck in the moon away from her lover stuck on earth and he makes all her favorite food shaped as the moon.” Holm said, “It happens on the first full moon of the fall and is the second [most] popular holiday after Chinese new year.” ASA celebrates this yearly and welcomes any student who wants to come.
Another event that ASA puts on yearly is a Fall Banquet. “The Fall Banquet is when the E-Board members make food that is eaten during that season and we have a presentation about each food then we feast,” Holm said. The Fall Banquet is a way to celebrate food from different cultures by eating the dishes and learning about them.
This year, ASA also celebrated Pocky day by handing out boxes of the popular Japanese snack on Nov. 11. “Pocky day is basically a Japanese holiday that the Pocky company somehow created to promote their product to sell.” Holm said, “The day for pocky day is 11/11 because the 11s look like two sets of pocky.” said Holm.
ASA is looking forward to what they will do next semester. Holm wanted to celebrate some of the lesser known asian holidays. “I found the Dongzhi Festival that is not commonly known.” She said, “The translation is ‘welcome of winter.’ They eat food like dumplings and a rice dumpling with red bean paste soup. The decor is warm colors like red, yellow and orange to give off the illusion of warmth during the cold times.” ASA plans on celebrating the Dongzhi festival for the first time in 2025.
Along with the Dongzhi festival celebration, Holm says ASA plans “to celebrate Lunar New Years as well as having the Spring Banquet and other events.” Holm also mentioned that ASA is “hoping to collaborate with EMU and JMU for a banquet.”
Holm said that in addition to the events the E-Board has already started planning, ASA hopes “to be able to have a hotpot event on campus and an asian movie theme night as well as a karaoke night.”
“We hope that students learn something new and enjoy the festival with their friends and loved ones,” Holm said. ASA events are open to any Bridgewater College students who want to learn about Asian traditions. To get updates on club events, send an email to [email protected] and ask to be placed on the email list.
