For many students, this past week was one of anxiety and sleepless nights. And midterms weren't so great either.
But the real source of stress for the members of the East Coast Asian American Student Union executive board was the anticipation of two years of hard work coming to fruition this weekend when the annual ECAASU conference will take place at the University from Feb. 27 to 29.
It all started in 2002, when a contingent from the University went to the then-named East Coast Asian Student Union conference hosted by Duke University. With almost 1,000 participants each year, it is the largest and oldest Asian American conference on the East Coast. The conference impressed Janice Gumera, fourth-year Commerce student and ECAASU chair, and a few other University students enough to make them want to bring the conference to Charlottesville.
Last year the ECAASU organization granted the University the right to host ECAASU 2k4: Awakening. The University will join the ranks of Yale, Harvard, Princeton and Georgetown when it hosts the annual ECAASU conference.
"I've heard from people last year after we made our bid that they got really excited about this conference coming to U.Va," second-year Engineering Student and programming co-chair Navdeep Singh said. "They thought that we'd be able to put on the best conference that they could potentially have ever seen."
As word spread that this year's ECAASU conference would be hosted by the University, more and more students began to get involved.
Crystal Gomez, third-year Education student and ECAASU Food and Facilities Chair, said she signed up at an Asian Student Union meeting.
"I really didn't know that putting my name on that piece of paper would have put me into all of this!" she said. "But really it's a lot of fun. It's something like, I have two years left at U.Va. What do I want to do with it?"
Third-year Commerce student Maritel Sanidad also could not resist ECAASU's lure, though she described her contributions as food co-chair with the phrases, "Giving up my life" and "I sold my soul over."
Gomez said she can also relate.
"It's like taking a 20-credit class," she said.
The daunting tasks required an immense investment of participants' time. Attending a board meeting two weeks before the conference, one could already feel the tension mounting.
The challenges included paying a few hundred dollars to each of the 53 workshop facilitators, several thousands of dollars honorarium to three keynote speakers and covering costs of food, transportation, facilities and miscellaneous expenses. This situation explains why finance chairs, fourth-year and second-year College students Carolyn Mao and Hazel Gumera, spent so much time together they joked about being married.
Everyone on the board said they could relate to Gumera when she admitted to "[waking] up in cold sweats and you're like, 'Money!'"
Though the budget looms large on its list of worries, the board said it is encouraged after having already overcome so many obstacles. After being asked what would happen if the final project doesn't turn out as planned, someone interjected, "It already has."
Gomez shared some of her list of difficulties.
"We had reserved Old Cabell Hall and then all of a sudden the symphony wants to have their performance the same weekend as ECAASU," she said.
Other problems occurred with University Hall and the Omni Charlottesville Hotel downtown.
"I sent out a ton of e-mails clogging everyone's boxes," said Chris Daroy, fourth-year College student and volunteer and registration chair. "People get mad at me. They'll say, 'Stop sending me e-mails' and I'll say, 'I can't because I have to.'"
Todd Aman, second-year College student and publications and volunteers co-chair, said he has also encountered challenges.
"I don't think there's been a single major obvious obstacle but just a gigantic pile of tiny little obstacles that we've had to deal with," Aman said. "There's only so much we can do -- so much we can plan away. The day of the conference I'm sure we'll be running around fixing problems, but not everything is within our control."
The time and money the board members have already personally spent trying to ensure the flawless execution of their project can be deemed impressive. From selling themselves or others in the Queer Student Union date auction, to outright begging for money, there's pretty much nothing that the executive board said it has not or would not do for the sake of ECAASU.
"So we were doing 50-50 raffles at different parties and Janice [Gumera] starts selling me off to people," said Lan Nguyen, fourth-year Engineering student and transportation chair. "They'd be like 'how much does it cost to dance with you?' and she would somehow get $5 out of them even when they didn't have it."
The board members nod in agreement with interjections of various out of pocket sums of money ranging from $150 to $300 individual members have had to pay.
"I heavily, heavily regret my phone bill," Asian Student Union President Huong Huynh said.
Yet like all other extracurricular activities that absorb students' lives, the members seem to have many reasons for staying with this one, though the hours and dollars seem to slip away.
"I feel like I have a personal commitment to each one of these people," Aman said. "If I say it'll get done at a certain time, it's going to get done."
The board members also noted the tremendous support from the University in their efforts.
"We get a lot of support from [our facilitators] every time we talk to them about what we're doing -- because even people who can't do it truly say to us 'we're really, really sad we can't come because what you're doing is amazing,'" Singh said.
Doug Lee, third-year Engineering student and programming co-chair, said he has enjoyed working on the conference.
"All this experience has opened up a new field for me to go into -- administration," Lee said. "For me, engineering doesn't involve people -- this does."
Nguyen and multiple board members agreed that the best part of ECAASU is the people.
And where is ECAASU being held next year?
Janice Gumera said there are a few universities already competing in the bid process for next year's conference. But all Lee could say in response to the question was: "Not here!"
Read More
It’s okay not to be okay
By Mai Hukuoka | 2 days agoWhether talking to a friend, a loved one or a professional, it is so necessary, and human, to need more than you can provide for yourself.
Taking a break at Tangerines Kitchen
By Charley Thomas | 4 days agoWhat the restaurant somewhat lacks in ambiance, it compensates for in tasty dishes and prompt service.
Virginia Policy Lab — a hub for student-led policy action
By Katherine Haden | December 9, 2024Students propose their own projects and collaborate with other members to research their issues of interest, brainstorm solutions and write policy proposals.
