This past Friday, December 9th, Somerset Berkley’s Diversity Club was invited on a field trip to UMass Dartmouth’s Festival of Lights, an event with the purpose of educating high school students on the numerous different cultural celebrations that often take place during this time of the year, as well as promoting diversity as a whole. The event featured performances, short presentations, as well as numerous workshops all focusing on key aspects of different cultures. 

After a few icebreakers, a traditional Hindi love song was performed for us and the students of the numerous other high schools in attendance. This was followed by an explanation of the Hindu celebration of Diwali that celebrates the beginning of the new year in India and is oftentimes associated with Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of prosperity.

 Following that, we were broken into two groups: one that learned an African style dance from UMass Dartmouth’s Pan African Dance Group and another that focused on the Japanese art form of origami. Following these workshops, we got to hear from different clubs that focus on the numerous cultures of UMass Dartmouth’s students. Mini-presentations were given that focused on the cultures found in the Caribbean, Haiti, Iran, Islamic nations, Asia, and the Pacific Islands. We learned about cultural foods in Haiti and the Caribbean, sacred texts in Persian culture, the religion of Islam, and the Southeast Asian game of Mancala- which might be familiar to some.

The group then broke for lunch at UMass Dartmouth’s new dining hall, The Grove. After the break, we returned for one last activity where we all learned to play the Ddalgi Game (which translates to Strawberry Game). The Ddalgi Game is a game that stems from Korea in which a group of players must maintain a four or eight-count beat while tasked with saying the name of their chosen fruit numerous times in accordance with the beat. The game is a bit hard to describe (and play), but there is a variety of footage online that shows the oftentimes humorous gameplay in live action. 

If anyone is interested in promoting diversity at Somerset Berkley, they are welcome to join the Diversity Club at any time! The club typically meets every other Wednesday in room 235, but for the most updated information you can contact the writers of this article, Ava Casey and Ryan Rose, or you may reach out to our advisor, Ms. Copeland.