By: Candice Koo

March 22, 2024

Spring has sprung, and we are back with another exciting chapter of CHASA Chats! From socials to collaborations to volunteering, CHASA has spent these last few months fostering connection within our larger community.

Finding Your Perfect Match: Bigs and Littles Speed Dating

On January 16th, we welcomed our members back from winter break with our first general meeting of the spring semester. This meeting introduced CHASA’s Bigs and Littles system, a way to match upperclassmen with underclassmen based on similar interests and personalities.

With how much our membership has grown, what better way to help people meet their CHASA besties than through (platonic) speed dating? Our members spend the evening getting to know one another through games and discussions, exchanging life stories, hobbies, and of course, Instagram accounts. Attendees also wrote down their potential matches for our e-board to start making pairings.

CHASA x SEAASA Trivia Night

For our next meeting, we collaborated with the Southeast Asian American Student Association (SEAASA) to host a trivia night about Asian American community. Throughout the meeting, we tested everyone’s knowledge on different Asian American topics, from history and culture to music and sports.

With the chance to win a dozen delicious donuts, the stakes were very high. As the jelly-filled treasures tempted everyone’s eyes and mouths, the teams breezed through each question. Alliances were formed, loyalties were tested, and cheaters were caught—until finally one team won it all. Congratulations, once again, to team Cinnamon Roll for their unmatched spirit and trivia knowledge! We all left this meeting with new connections and more awareness of the Asian American experience.

Shop Til You Drop at Vintage Alley

On January 31st, CHASA participated in the inaugural Vintage Alley thrift market, a collaboration event between AAPASC and University Street Market (USM) to promote sustainable fashion. We set up our table amongst other clubs, piled high with denim jeans, trendy graphic tees, vintage heels, and even plushies donated by our E-Board members.

Thanks to our stylish board, we ended up making over $500 in sales. We cannot wait to participate in Vintage Alley again in the future!

Diving Deeper Into the Asian-American Experience

That evening, we went through with the second part of our SEAASA collaboration. Our two e-boards partnered to lead discussions about stereotypes, representation in media, and how the AAPI experience differs between Southeast and East Asian Americans. It was another great night of fostering thoughtful conversation about Asian American community.

CHASA Gives Back

CHASA started off the month of February by giving back to our community. On Saturday February 3rd, a few of our e-board members volunteered at Phoenix Chinese Week’s 34th Annual Chinese Culture & Cuisine Festival. We helped out at the photo booth, mahjong tent, and chopstick challenge tent, and we all had a blast interacting with festival goers and taking in the bustling atmosphere. After the event closed down for the day, we stayed behind to clean up, taking one final group picture before saying goodbye to the other volunteers.

The following week, CHASA introduced our “Giving Week,” partnering with St. Mary’s Food Bank to host a food drive. This drive is still ongoing, and we encourage both our members as well as other AAPASC clubs to donate to this meaningful cause.

Getting Our Game On at Round 1

Did someone say plushies? That’s right! On February 13th, CHASA went all the way to Glendale to check out the newly opened Round 1 arcade. This ginormous, two-story Japanese arcade has something for everyone, from rows of claw machines filled with the cutest plushies to a bowling alley, roller skating rink, and even trampolines. Judging by how many familiar faces we saw in the arcade, it is fair to say that CHASA really took over the place. However, toys and prizes weren’t the only attraction that night…

To really sell this meeting, we pitched a “Baldie Fundraiser” to our members, promising that if we raised $300, we would shave the heads of two of our e-board members at Round 1. Miraculously, we reached our goal, and it was time for Jacob (Social Media Director) and Allen (Senior Advisor) to say goodbye to their hair.

A very special thanks to our lovely barber for making sure Jacob and Allen left the meeting looking presentable.

Who Turned Off the Lights?!

Midterm season is tough, and with spring break just mere days away, CHASA decided that our February 27th meeting would be all about fun and eating away our stress through games. To set the eerie mood of our first two activities, we shut off the lights. Then, it was on to Murder in the Dark, a game of solving murders while simultaneously being hunted by secret killers, followed by Hide and Seek, a classic childhood game that somehow had us all running, screaming, and jumping on top of tables to escape the blindfolded seekers. We finished the night with a surprisingly anxiety-inducing game of Musical Chairs, and it was off to Jin BBQ for a well-deserved dinner.

Spring Interns!

The CHASA team just keeps getting bigger and better, as we welcomed eight new interns this past month!

Secretary Intern: Sierra Huang

Treasurer Intern: Jane Li

Fundraising Intern: George Jia

Graphic design Interns: Kelly Chen, Jubilee Lin

Event Coordinator Intern: Nathan Zhang

General Interns: Athen Tang, Jason Lu

Phew, we've now made to the end of Chapter 3! Don't go too far though, CHASA still has much more in store before we end the year. See you next time!

Chasa Chats: Chapter Three