The PAC and the University of Utah Asia Campus hosting a movie night during the Mason Days Week.
Mason Days Week events were held from 10 May 2021 to 14 May 2021 both face-to-face and online. Due to COVID-19 and social distancing restrictions from Spring 2020, there were a lot fewer opportunities for Mason Korea students to gather in person and feel connected to each other regardless of having numerous virtual events. Considering this, the Patriot Activities Council (PAC) hosted a week-long event, in collaboration with Mason Korea student leaders and Registered Student Organization (RSO) to collaborate with the University of Utah Asia Campus, and other student leaders at Mason Korea. Mason Days week was successful and proved that university students can feel connected to one other in times of not being able to interact freely in person.
Although Mason Days Week was very different from the Mason Day event that was held every May, it was still successful in bringing the students to interact with one another. Various events were held including DJ sessions with SKETCH band, Mason Photo Booth with PAC, Unbirthday party collaborated with Resident Advisors, Fashion Show and Game Night with Student Council, and Movie Night collaborated with The University with Utah Asia Campus. As Mason Days Week was mostly held offline, it helped students to meet each other in person and feel connected to each other. Since almost all events and classes were held online, students felt very isolated from the school. Especially students who entered school after Spring 2020 felt like they were not part of the Mason community. Doyeon Lee (Business, ’23), one of the SKETCH band members who participated in the DJ session and the Fashion Show with Student council said she participated in the DJ session events answered, “Since I[she] did not have many chances to connect with students due to the [COVID-19] pandemic, I decided to attend Mason Days [Week] events to have fun and communicate with other students. Through the Mason Days week, I finally felt connected to students while I think I would feel more connected if events happened more often face-to-face.”
Not only did students enjoy and felt included in the Mason community, but a current Resident Advisor also shared their experience. Victoria Parra (Global Affairs, ’24) mentioned that she participated in the events because she wanted to support PAC students including her friend and she thought “these were very helpful to get me[her] to talk to more people.” As it needs other efforts and procedures to meet someone such as reaching out and making plans, Victoria stated that Mason Days events were a very great chance to come in-person and “it’s just a lot easier to get involved and to get to know people around you through these events.”
To know more about the process and the ideas of each event, The Voice conducted an interview with the PAC members about the Mason Days Week event.
The members all mentioned that the event overall was successful and it exceeded their expectations. For example, the Unbirthday party was an event that was a huge success. Unbirthday party events were originally an all-day-long event on Tuesday, but as there were many requests from students to hold Unbirthday party events on other days of the week, the event was continued until next Thursday. As result, 170 participants attended the Unbirthday party in total. Another event that was very successful was the DJ session with the SKETCH band. This event proceeded via Zoom. Although students were not able to watch and listen to the band play in the same room, they still were able to interact with one another through the live chat. Moreover, the PAC members also shared that faculties and staff members at Mason Korea also joined Mason Photo Booth, which brought the Mason community a lot closer.
Kieun Kwon (Global Affairs, ’24), one of the PAC members, said it was good to see students enjoying events that they prepared for even though it was hectic. Kwon added, “At times it was so hectic we wished that we were on the other side (the ones participating), but, it’s good to see people come out and actually enjoy themselves and the events that we planned and organized, hosted.” Naen Kang (Global Affairs, ’23), another PAC member, said, “I think it was the first week that I felt like I was in college. Usually, when we [PAC] hold events, we have enough time to promote the events to the students at least a week prior to the event. After the event, we would always have follow-ups by receiving feedback. However, since Mason Days Week was held every day for one week, it was very hectic and busy that we did not have enough time to promote and have proper feedback sessions.” Yibin Cho (Global Affairs, ’23), the other PAC member, mentioned that Mason Days week “was a good opportunity to hang out with other students because we don’t have many chances to meet in person.”
Mason Days week was hosted by PAC for the first time. It was a week filled with various in-person events and collaborations with both Mason Korea and the IGC community. This was a great opportunity to have students meet new people and to enjoy university life. Kang mentioned, “I think it was the first week that I felt like I was in college.” The Mason Days Week events showed that both online and offline events can help students interact with one another without feeling isolated. It is hoped that the COVID-19 situation can get better in the upcoming semesters so that students can interact more freely in person.
Written by Sunbin Kim, Staff Writer
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