What gave you the idea to start the WCE Perspectives Club?

Growing up, I was one of the only Indian kids in my class and was never exposed to the idea of sharing my culture to my friends. I never bothered to explain to my friends why I wore a hijab in middle school, why my hands were covered in henna, why I would take off my shoes at home, etc, because I didn’t think it was my place to share these things in school. But when I started high school, I met so many different people and started having those conversations about our cultures, realizing that I’m not so different from anyone else. And my friends would get so excited to have the chance to share a part of their lives they never felt like they could share before. Culture is an integral part of your life, and you can’t truly understand a person without understanding their culture, from their traditions to their ideals. Those conversations made me realize the importance of sharing our cultures with each other— it helps us understand and appreciate each other and our differences so much more. I started Collective Perspectives to prompt these conversations and create open spaces for everyone to share a part of themselves, because understanding people and where their ideals come from creates such an inviting environment for everyone to learn. With the cultural awareness event, I hope that the student body gets a taste of the diversity in our school through the fair, and that we can start conversations about the importance of culture during the discussions.

What’s the goal of the club?

Our main goals revolve around prompting

conversations around the school regarding diversity and culture. We hope to amplify diverse voices in the school to show different perspectives and lives. We want to educate ourselves and others on the importance of cultural awareness, as we all have unique aspects of ourselves that we should strive to learn about. Through these conversations, we hope that we expand our bubble at East and gain a global perspective on both our relationships with classmates and contemporary issues facing the school and society today.

How do you hope to make an impact on WCE and the general community?

I think that we definitely live in a bubble at East, within our classes and activities. While it is not necessarily a negative thing, it’s easy to ignore everything that is going on outside that bubble. When you start having those conversations with other students, you get a sense of the world and our roles in it, and it’s so important to see yourself outside of your bubble and get a feel for what the world is really like. I hope that through the cultural awareness event, we are able to share a part of ourselves that we normally don’t get a chance to and get out of our bubble at East.

Tell us about your Culture Fair!

We’re hosting a culture fair on Monday and Tuesday, May 10th and 11th during all lunch periods in the outdoor tents. At the culture fair, you’ll be able to see presentations on many different cultures at East and learn about your classmates and the importance of cultural awareness. There will be music, activities, and opportunities for you to sit down and have some great discussions on important matters facing cultural diversity. We encourage all students to take some time out of their lunch periods to come down to the outdoor tents and check out the fair!

Where do you see the club in the future?

I had actually been hoping to host this event for a while now, ever since my junior year. However, because of Covid, we were unable to get anywhere with our plans. I had originally wanted to host a cultural awareness night and open it up to the community outside of the student body, but that didn’t seem like a possibility this year. However, I started brainstorming with a group of students and came up with a plan that would accommodate all of our ideas in a covid-safe environment, so that we could continue our plan for the cultural awareness event on a smaller scale. I hope that this year, we lay the foundation for this event and that in the future, we can eventually open it up to the outside community and make an even larger impact outside of East.