September 26, 2023
Global Engineers to host K-State Star Festival
The Global Engineers program in the Carl R. Ice College of Engineering is hosting the K-State Star Festival this week, Sept. 25-29, and is encouraging students, faculty and staff to share their hidden stories and wishes.
The festival is modeled after the Japanese Star Festival, which brings people in the community together to make wishes for various aspects of their lives by writing their wishes and hanging them on bamboo branches on July 7 each year.
In the K-State community, there are abundantly rich and diverse life stories. Some of these stories are incorporated in school classrooms, while others are hidden and only shared among limited groups. The K-State Star Festival is designed to cast light on those hidden stories so that more people will hear them and their perspectives can broaden. This will help break down the wall of "them and us," and all people in the community can come together to solve problems and build a brighter future for all.
Hidden stories can tell about:
- How changing or broadening your perspective opened doors for opportunities.
- How overcoming the fear of stereotypes and affirming your identity gave you leverage.
- How knowing the difference between being privileged and being entitled afforded you gratitude and empathy.
- Anything you learned through life.
There will be Make a Wish stations with additional information in the Engineering Hall atrium, the Morris Family Multicultural Student Center lobby and Hale Library Room 104. Activity tables will be set up from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sept. 26 in Hale Library Room 104 and from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sept. 28 in the Engineering Hall atrium.
This event was designed and organized by the Global Engineers program, led by Ayumi Amama, with help from Lorenza Lockett, LaVerne Bitsie-Baldwin, Shana Bender, Kimathi Choma, Tara Coleman, Amy Betz and Nate McLendon.
