STORY AND PHOTOS BY RYLEE BRETTON
Students gathered in the FHSU Ballroom on Sunday, September 15, to experience a Moon Gala. This event was put together by CSSA.
CSSA stands for Chinese Student Scholarship Association. It is a student-led organization that focuses on providing a warm and friendly atmosphere for Chinese students.
“We want them to feel comfortable to make friends, study together, look after each other, learn Western culture, and most importantly have fun together with local people,” CSSA advisor Jackie Zhang said. “By default, every Chinese at FHSU, no matter what they are: professors, staff, or students, no matter where they are from: China mainland, Hong Kong, Taiwan, or Macau, is a member of CSSA.”
The CSSA Moon Festival Gala took place in the Memorial Union Ballroom. It was to celebrate the traditional Chinese Moon Festival, also referred to as the Mid-Autumn Festival. In China, the 15th day of August on the Lunar calendar is the Moon Festival. It is referred to as this day, because on this day the moon is very bright and large.
Because the moon looks like this only once a year, Chinese culture declared this phenomenon as a special holiday. This is a day where all family members remain at home to celebrate. A big meal is typically made along with Moon Cake, which is a very common dessert on this day. Because the Chinese students were not able to spend this holiday with their families, they decided to bring it to Fort Hays.
CSSA took on the responsibility of hosting this gala. They had a meal provided for students, along with the help of local restaurants. They also had different Chinese candies on all of the tables for the guests.
The night began with live music from different CSSA students. Music was either sung or played by the students. There was also a dance performed to a famous Chinese song. Between the performances, there were also games provided for the students where they could win gift cards to different restaurants in Hays.
At the end of the night, the famous “Moon Cake” was sampled by FHSU students. There was also a raffle for more prizes.
A lot of preparation took place in order to make this event successful.
“Students started planning this event a week and a half ago,” Zhang said, “Within the limited time, they were able to pull every source to get the music done, find the right costume, get sponsorships, make the flyer, decorate the stage, and organize everything. I thought the students did a great job of spreading the word about our event. Big thumbs up for them!”
This event was definitely a fan favorite for FHSU students.
“I loved learning about the Chinese culture and supporting the international students,” FHSU student Faith Little explained, “I also enjoyed the performances.”
“I really liked how they did the whole program in both Chinese and English,” FHSU student A Ramos said, “The food was also really good.”
The students always meet once the school year is underway. After that the Leadership Team for the organization has small meetings with Coordinator Zhang. These meetings are to discuss different events going on throughout the school year. These events include: the Moon Festival Gala, Oktoberfest, homecoming, and the Spring Festival Gala. The group also has a group chat to coincide with busy schedules.
The group has many events planned for the rest of the school year. The group will partake at Oktoberfest by selling Chinese food. They also do the Dragon Dance during the homecoming parade. In the spring semester, they will have a Spring Festival in Beach Schmidt.