Craft Comp Social 2022 🎨
APASA’s Craft Comp Social Event, as told from the perspective of Yusuf Rahman, our Programming Director.
As I stood by the doors to TCC forum, I realized just then what all the past summer was amounting to. To my left were the emcees at the podium, script in hand and ready to energize the audience. To my right were bobas and donuts laid out, being served by our wonderful APASA Eboarders. And then, of course, was everything that was in front of me.
photo of our wonderful APASA Eboarders (left to right): Anjali, Lisa, and Sophia (& Brian in the back!)
This was the scene of CraftComp Social, APASA’s very first event of the 2022-2023 school year, taking place on August 26. It was also my first event as Programming Director, and I can’t pretend I wasn’t nervous. From start to finish, the process of planning CraftComp proved to be a challenge. But it also pushed my creativity and gave me the room to plan a great event that could bring new and returning students together. All of this, of course, would not have been possible without the help of the rest of my board, who helped me when I needed it.
CraftComp Social was born out of a desire to not just welcome students back to campus after a difficult two years, but to also share some of the beautiful diversity of the APIDA community. That’s why I settled on arts and crafts as the theme of the night—what better way to educate others and showcase our collective heritage through art that has existed for centuries?
The night unfolded with enthusiasm beyond belief. We were happy to serve boba from one of our sponsors, Cup O’ Joy, and donuts (which had the APASA logo on them! Absolutely adorable) from Fantastic Donuts on Vermont Ave. As people filed in and grabbed their food, our lovely emcees Tina and Christina—which I called “Tina squared”—kicked off our first event: origami folding. The premise was simple. Each team randomly selected an origami design, which they then had the task of folding as many of that animal that they could.
People laughed, people stressed, but above all, people awakened their inner child as they also learned about some of origami’s application in medicine. The next activity was to create Rangolis, a practice from South Asia where people create vibrant designs out of powder and other objects to bring in good luck. In this case, each team created a drawing on poster paper, all of whom were given a visual element to include in their creation.
With people exercising some of their visual artistry, we wanted to end the night with something of a performative streak. Every team was now asked to write and present a Yadu poem, a form of poetry originating from Burmese culture that features a cascading rhyme and focuses on nature. I loved seeing the silly, fun, and often sublime lines people came up with.
Sadly, the night did need to come to an end. With almost 100 people in attendance, our emcees tallied up the points and presented the team with a phenomenal set of mini squishmallows!
craft comp winners with their marvelous mini squishmallows — congrats to the winning team!
And so, the forum began to clear out. As I watched our attendees leave, I was quite happy to know how many people we were able to welcome onto campus. Thanks to all those who came out, and I look forward to seeing you again!