College Celebrates the Year of the Dragon with Lunar New Year festivities

February 10 marked the beginning of the Lunar New Year celebrated by millions across the world. It also marks the year of the wooden dragon in Chinese astrology. On February 6 Wright College hosted its first Lunar New Year Taco Tuesday filled with fun activities and delicious food.

By Adrian Panopio

(Red Envelopes, or Hongbaos, filled with gold chocolate coins were handed out to attendees of the Lunar New Year Taco Tuesday. Photo Credit: Adrian Panopio)

Many celebrated the New Year last month, but many in Asia celebrate the upcoming Lunar New Year this month. This year, the Lunar New Year falls on Saturday, February 10 and will mark the beginning of the year of the Wooden Dragon.

To celebrate the upcoming Lunar New Year, Wright College's Student Activities put together an event in honor of this special holiday. This event took place on Feb 6 during the regular weekly Taco Tuesday, except the food that was served was Chinese food!

Students participated in a Lunar New Year Kahoot game that featured questions regarding Lunar New Year and its many customs and traditions. The winning group won Wright College merch including brand new beanies.

One of the work studies student Loveleen Kaur, spoke on how the event came to fruition. “These events were all organized by Katie Ordinario and Mary Kincaid, the head of student activities, who delegated the task to work studies to put everything together,” Kaur's favorite part of the event was the vast amount of people that attended, regardless of culture and whether they normally celebrated the Lunar New Year or not.

Several students also shared their thoughts on how the event was and what they liked about it.

Jovannae Magellanes said she liked "how there are options for people who are vegetarian.” She also really enjoyed the bright and ornate decorations that adorned the faculty dining area. She also mentioned that she really liked how the event gave insight on the Chinese Zodiac signs and how people got to learn more about their own signs.

(Natalie Romero handing out hongbaos or red envelopes. Photo Credit: Adrian Panopio)

Natalie Romero, who was in charge of the sign-in table, also shared her thoughts on the event. “I really like the decorations. The vibes were really amazing, though I spent most of the time handing out hongbaos.”

(Lunar New Year Decorations adorned the room. Photo Credit: Adrian Panopio)

Kenji Jaleco also praised the decorations and bright colors, which he said really attracted and welcomed a lot of people. “It’s fun to celebrate an event that not a lot of people here on campus might be familiar with. It’s really fun that people got to learn what their Chinese zodiac signs are, far different from their western zodiacs,” Jaleco said.

SGA hosts weekly Taco Tuesdays from 2-3pm in the Faculty Dining Area in the Science Building. The next one will take place on Tuesday, February 13 and the theme is Paczki Day.