By Jake Kauderer

As part of the Southwest Asian and North African (SWANA) Heritage Month Arts & Crafts Series, a friendship bracelet-making event took place Wednesday. The event, hosted inside Studio A in the Stamp Student Union, was open to anyone who had an interest in crafting a bracelet. 

Laura Akkurt, a freshman bioscience major, led the event and assisted participants in shaping their bracelets. 

“We’re celebrating SWANA Heritage Month through the bracelet design,” Akkurt said.
“It’s a relaxing activity that I’ve been doing for a couple of years now.”

According to the Stamp website, April 2024 is the first ever campus-wide celebration of SWANA Heritage. 

Akkurt demonstrated some of the different ways to assemble the bracelets. The variations included forward knots, forward-backward knots, backward knots and backward-forward knots.

Attendees could obtain string, scissors and tape to create their bracelet and a myriad of colors and tools were available so students could fully exercise their artistry.

“I like crafting. I can find peace of mind by doing it,” said Hui He, a first-year graduate student studying public administration. “You can make paintings on the bracelets which gives an outlet for creativity.”

The event also provided a social opportunity for students from various backgrounds to sit and talk with each other. They were free to work at their own pace and ask for help if they desired. 

Currently, there are no additional bracelet-making events scheduled, but students recognize the positive aspects they can bring.

“When you make the bracelets, you are free to think about whatever and talk to others,” said Alan Jiang, a freshman computer science major. “I would be down for another bracelet-making event.”

Photos by Jake Kauderer on April 24, 2024.