Love Languages ❤
By APASA Diversity Chair Kat Nguyen and Intern Anahita Saxena
Katelyn Saiki (ECC), Sage Murthy (RD), and Kat Nguyen (Diversity Chair) showing their love through physical touch!
To introduce APASA to the incoming intern class and foster an inclusive, welcoming environment, Kat, our Diversity Chair, bravely squashed her nerves to host the first open GM of the semester. The event began with a thought-provoking presentation on how love languages evolve across generations, with a focus on the impacts of immigration and assimilation. Afterward, Sage Murthy (RD), Alex Nguyen (RD), and Kyle Ching (ICC) shared personal, heartfelt stories about how their families express affection and how those expressions have shifted over time. Listening to their intimate and beautifully articulate stories, I (an empath) couldn’t help but shed a tear (or was it allergy season).
Next, we invited participants to reflect on how their own cultural backgrounds influence the way they express and receive love, all through a series of interactive, hands-on stations. Each station represented a different love language:
Quality Time: Participants competed in a lively game of hot potato, and when eliminated, they shared their thoughts on what quality time means to them and how prevalent it is in their relationships.
Physical Touch: Executive board members led attendees in creating funky handshakes with a partner and discussed the role of physical touch in expressing affection.
Acts of Service: Attendees cut fruit for their table while engaging in conversations about what acts of service mean to them and how they interpret acts of service..
Gift Giving: Participants exchanged doodles and stickers as gifts while reflecting on how they view the act of giving and receiving gifts.
Words of Affirmation: Partners worked together to write “good luck” letters to each other, sharing their personal preferences for how they like to receive and offer words of affirmation.
Dylan Chen (BR) exhibiting acts of service by drawing on Brielle Lee (Intern)!
While issues with setup were initially very frazzling, the GM was still a huge success with an overwhelming turnout. Although I couldn’t directly participate, I was incredibly proud of my executive board for facilitating such a comfortable and engaging space. Some as dedicated as to joining in the super silly handshakes (cough cough Camilla and Kyle) and hosting unprompted comedy shows at their stations (Dylan). The room was so filled with laughter and smiles that even ISA (the club next to us) was wondering what event was causing such a ruckus. Oops!
But, most importantly, this GM allowed us to connect with some truly incredible people—some of whom are our wonderful new member org representatives and our fantastic interns!