Gallery • 3 Photos

Jay Shank

Attendees gather around the table painting their pots while sipping on coffee.

The smell of coffee beans lingered on the second floor of the Henderson Campus Center as students painted their home countries’ flags on pots and ordered free drinks at Grounds for Change on Wednesday, Sept. 25. Attendees of the event were dancing, singing and getting messy at the International Club’s first event of the semester: “Paint Your Roots.”
“Who doesn’t like a good drink in this rainy weather,” said International Club Public Relations Chair Chezka Quinola, ’27, who came to Allegheny from the Philippines. “Open tabs are really appealing. We want the international community to connect more with other students on campus, because a lot of international students get culture shock when they come (to America),”
Students from dozens of countries filled the space to unlock their creative senses and to get involved in a conversation. The plant pots they were painting were about the size of a teacup, but despite the size challenge students were able to paint the small details of flags like Mexico, even including the curvature of the bird.
Baristas yelled out drink orders, people sang and the paint got messy as more and more pots were reserved by students searching for commonality.
Brooke Biro, ’26, attended the event even though she is not an international student.
“A lot of my friends are internationally aligned so I like coming to the events,” Biro said. “I enjoy the social aspect of getting to know members of (the Allegheny) community and supporting my friends. Plus, I like free drinks and free plants.”
Members of the International Club board each host their own event per semester, and this event was pitched by Hemani Alaparthi, ’27, the recruitment chair of the organization and an international student from Malaysia.
“We want them (international students) to connect more with their roots,” Alaparthi said.
Vice President of the club, Lauren Schuch, ’26, who from South Korea, was really excited for Alaparthi to be hosting her first event.
“It’s always exciting when we get these individual events because it really shows what people want for the community,” Schuch said. “I hope people get a cute pot. But also just, you know, get our club out into the community.”
Attendees of the event weren’t limited to International Club members; in fact, everyone who came into GFC during the event got free coffee. Free coffee spiked people’s interest, and by the end of the night people from all over campus were painting their flags on little pots. As more and more people showed up, every table in the room was occupied. The line for coffee went around the tables, and some students were even left standing.
Anna Turhan, ’27, who is from Ukraine and serves as the International Club co-event manager, did not just enjoy the event for the International Club networking, but also just to relax after a long day of classes.
“Since we’re painting in the middle of the semester, it’s really important to remember we’re living our best years,” Turhan said. “Painting little cacti pots is a good way to get people involved and show people the theme of our cultures. Plus we can relax after a hard day, and people can get out of their rooms.”
International Club President, Ahn Nguyen, ’25, from Vietnam, was also excited to promote the club’s upcoming events.
“The club hosts one event a month,” Nguyen said. “In November we have a huge education week, so we try to keep energy and effort into that. We thought that the first event should be something people want to come to and something ‘international,’ so one of the officers came up with ‘Paint Your Roots.’ We want people to know about our big events as we open registration for the fashion show and the bazaar coming up.”
Walking past the space, students’ attention was drawn both audibly and visually. The board members had popular music playing, many people walked around with puddles of paint on paper plates and the sound of the espresso machine grinding the coffee beans filled the space.
“It’s such a great way to get to know each other,” Nguyen said. “I hope people just have a fun time painting their pots.”
In addition to “Paint Your Roots,” the club is hosting an International Education Week in November, as well as their biggest event of the semester: the International Bazaar.
“We really want people to come to the Bazaar,” Quinola said. “That’s part of why we’re doing this. We want to attract more people.”
Similarly, Nguyen was excited for the event to promote the club to freshmen.
“It’s such a great way to know each other,” Nguyen said. “It’s especially good for freshmen who don’t know anything about the club. I hope they get to know each other more.”
From a first-year point of view, Khanh Nguyen, ’28, from Vietnam, enjoyed being able to connect with other international students.
“I could see a lot of non-Americans there,” Nguyen said. “We may have had the same feelings about studying far from home, so we had the same topics to talk about. It was really fun.”
In general, the board members want foreign students on campus to feel connected to their communities.
“We’re really aiming to bring people together,” Turhan said. “As an international student, it’s important to retain relationships with people all around the world.”