UHV International Festival to showcase global diversity, culture
The University of Houston-Victoria is inviting all students, faculty, staff and the community to step abroad on an international odyssey, all without having to leave campus.
The ninth annual UHV International Festival will be held from 5 to 8:30 p.m. on April 12 in the parking lot between the University Center building and University West, 3007 N. Ben Wilson St. The event is free and open to the public.
“I am very excited about the upcoming festival because it is truly a momentous celebration of global diversity and unity as we bring together performers, cuisines, traditions, and fashions from all over the world to Victoria,” said Samuel Joe, an international graduate student studying biomedical science. “This will be my last festival as a student, and I know that this festival will be a radiant display of how we can put aside our differences and come together to celebrate each other as citizens of the world.”
The festival is a joint effort between UHV International Programs and the university’s International Student Organization and Student Life.
“It’s been a journey,” said Ana Laura Pineda, UHV interim director of International Programs. “We started off small, and we have brought in so much over the years to make sure the event will be successful.”
The event will include an international fashion show featuring UHV’s international students, who will present their nationality wearing their cultural attire, Pineda said.
“One of the things that’s exciting and memorable about the event is the flag parade where we showcase the flags of the students who are from other countries,” Pineda said. “I am so grateful for our International Student Coordinator Tiarah Figueroa for working so hard with Student Life and the other International Festival Committee members to make this event possible.”
Additionally, the event will host a total of four professional performers coming to campus, which will include a mariachi band, belly dancers, Our Lady of Sorrows Ballet Folklorico and a Brazilian dance performance taking shape as a samba performance. A variety of food and booths will be available for attendees to enjoy and to learn more about other cultures around the world.
“This event will not only benefit the students, but the campus; it’s going to bring out that life because the purpose of why we’re here is for our students,” Pineda said. “This event helps our international students open up, promote their countries and feel special that they’re able to introduce their countries to us.”
Amaanee Ismail, a sophomore at UHV double majoring in computer science and mathematics, has come a long way. To be exact, more than 9,800 miles away.
She is an international student from Sri Lanka, an island country in South Asia just south of India. Although she was on the other side of the globe, Ismail said she learned about UHV after a recruiter came to her school to talk about all of the opportunities that awaited her in Texas.
“It was that personal connection,” Ismail said. “Since then, I’ve always had UHV in the back of my mind, and when it came time to actually apply for schools, I knew UHV was the right one for me.”
Ismail is now part of a group that consists of nearly160 international students on F-1/J-1 visas from 40 different countries here at UHV, according to UHV International Programs.
Adjusting to the university and to a brand-new continent was difficult at first during her first semester, Ismail said. The very first day that she started classes at UHV was also the day she celebrated her 17th birthday. Eventually, Ismail said she eased into her new life, made new friends and found work on campus. Currently, she works at the Student Success Center tutoring her peers on lower-level math courses, and she also assists the International Programs office with event planning, taking incoming calls and directing students.
For this year’s International Festival, Ismail is volunteering to set up the event as well as operating a booth to represent her home country along with two other international students.
“I’m looking forward to looking through each and every one of the international foods, listening to the speakers and seeing the assortment of clothes from each country,” she said. “It’s essentially a sneak peek into different countries all in one parking lot.”
Most importantly, the upcoming festival serves as an opportunity for local students in the Victoria area to learn about different cultures without having to travel far, Ismail said.
“Bringing all these different cultures closer to local students is really valuable because it gives students a chance to learn and expand their horizons,” she said. “Interactions like these encourage positive homogeneity within the culture, and it’s cool to see international students mix with the local students.”
The University of Houston-Victoria, located in the heart of the Coastal Bend region since 1973 in Victoria, Texas, offers courses leading to more than 50 academic programs in the schools of Arts & Sciences; Business Administration; and Education, Health Professions & Human Development. UHV provides face-to-face classes at its Victoria campus, as well as an instructional site in Katy, Texas, and online classes that students can take from anywhere. UHV supports the American Association of State Colleges and Universities Opportunities for All initiative to increase awareness about state colleges and universities and the important role they have in providing a high-quality and accessible education to an increasingly diverse student population, as well as contributing to regional and state economic development.