International Day 2012

Columbia College hosted its annual International Day. 285 students from 45 different countries came together to share their diversity and culture with others.

English as Second Language students were grouped geographically and had the opportunity to share information about their home countries. Fatima Luqman, Acting Program Chair of the Academic Skills Development Department, stated “What I truly love about International Day is that it’s a chance for our students to host a celebration meant to showcase their cultural heritage, by creating interactive displays and activities highlighting music, dance, food, and traditions of their countries and to celebrate the College’s cultural diversity”.

This is a student led cultural day. Zarintaj Muzaffari, a student, stated, “It is an important day that all of the nations have an opportunity to know more about each other.” Students provided entertainment with dancing and singing all morning, often different groups dancing and celebrating together. “It gives us the chance to experience the diversity and culture differences; it was a wonderful day full of joy and excitement,” stated another student, Shadia Osman.

International Day began this year with an opening ceremony which included an address from the College President, Dr. J.T. (Tom) Snell and the singing of ‘Oh Canada’. Bahram Moradi, another student, stated “International Day is a day in which different nations can get an opportunity to share each other’s culture, customs, traditions, food, clothes, and many other things; it also makes the different nations know more about the history of other nations.”

This year the following countries were represented: Ukraine, Albania, Bulgaria, France, Kazakhstan, Italy, Russia, Mongolia, Algeria, Morocco, Libya, Pakistan, Vietnam, India, Burma, Bhutan, Korea, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, North Sudan, South Sudan, Columbia, Chile, Peru, El Salvador, Cuba, Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Afghanistan, Iran, Lebanon, Kurdistan, Palestine, Egypt, Turkmenistan, Ethiopia, Angola, Liberia, Nigeria, Somalia, Cameroon, Eritrea, Congo, and Iraq.

To see pictures of the event, please visit: www.flickr.com/columbiacollegeab/sets.