By Maristela Romero

The recently established Asian American Club hosted its first Asian American Olympic games on March 29, inviting multiple ethnic student organizations to bond over friendly competition and Thai iced tea at Oakland Hall.

A formal collaboration between multiple Asian student organizations is an uncommon occurrence, let alone a social event that brings together four of the most actively represented Asian ethnic groups at the University of Maryland.

“This club was actually established by our small group of friends,” Amy Zheng, a junior public health major, said. “There are a total of six e-board members, we have all been to each individual org before, and we thought it would be a great idea for a merged club to unify these orgs in social events.”

The AAC invited the Korean Student Association, the Japanese American Student Association, the Vietnamese Student Association and the Filipino Cultural Association to the competition.

There was a noticeable uncertainty among the attendees and hosts about how the event would turn out. But as members slowly trickled in, their country flags became a point of pride and interest, contributing to a display of aggressive flag waving and playful, pre-game taunting.

AAC hosts eased the players into game mode by having the groups compete for the loudest scream, which VSA easily snatched up. The exercise was followed by a “Face the Oreo” challenge in which competing members attempted to use only their facial muscles to eat as many Oreos in one minute.

Other games included a lively round of musical chairs, “Guess the Song” and the popular Korean spicy ramen challenge. Tug-of-war was the last leg of the competition, which brought the Asian American olympic games to the peak of its friendly rivalries and team effort.

“We got to see the intensity and will power of each org as they battled each other for the trophy,” Zheng said.

FCA were the winners of the night, racking up the most points to claim the trophy, though JASA, VSA and KSA members put in their best efforts, Zheng said.

VSA member Jimmy Nguyen attended the first hour of the event and said it was fun but needed a stronger presence from the ACC executive members who hosted the competition. He also noted how some of the games were “repeats of games” that VSA and other groups have done in the past.

“A lot of the freshmen were probably exposed to these games for the first time, which is always a blast,” the sophomore computer science major said.

Junior psychology major and FCA member Rosamae Vicencio also shared a few improvements for AAC to consider.

“Some other members thought that the trivia wasn’t inclusive of other countries. The location also made it hard for everyone to get in,” she said.  

Despite these critiques, Vicencio said she and her fellow FCA members enjoyed the games and look forward to more AAC social events.