Carpe Diem showcases the diversity of SEMO’s international community

Southeast Missouri State University's annual cultural celebration, Carpe Diem, was held Saturday, March 1, at the Student Recreation Center.

The gym floor, normally used for basketball and other sporting activities, was transformed into a world marketplace. Students could visit booths to learn about different countries and taste food from all over the globe.

Graduate student Tracy Cai was eager to share the food and kindness from her home country of China.

“We are very friendly, and we would love for them to try our own food,” Cai said “We hope everyone will like it.”

At the India booth, food was also a part of the display. Badam milk, a drink made from almonds, cardamom, saffron, milk and sugar, was offered to those who passed by..

Food was not the only thing on display. Students dressed in traditional fashion from their country, performed music and dance and showcased a variety of different languages.

One of the booths that highlighted a large group of nations was the African Student Union (ASU). Multiple different countries from Africa were represented, showing the diversity of the continent.

ASU President Tania Maswera said Carpe Diem was an opportunity to show just how different many African countries are.

“Africa is not a country. That’s the first thing I want everyone to know and that there’s different countries within the continent of Africa,” Maswera said. “We just want people to know that each country is unique and has got its own culture.”

While Maswera is from Zimbabwe, she has learned a lot from Africans who come from other countries.

“I feel like a lot of times, people think that it’s just one culture, but we’re actually so different, even me being from Zimbabwe, there are a lot of things I’ve learned from someone who’s from Cameroon, from Nigeria,” Maswera said.

Besides the ASU, other student organizations like the Bangladeshi Student Association had similar goals of introducing their culture to others.

BSA President Ashraf Hussain was eager to share his culture with the people who visited their booth and in other events during the year.

“We do Carpe Diem. we do Bangladesh Night, and our other events as well, so that people know about our culture, how friendly we are, how we meet with other people and we invite people to share cultures,” Hussain said.

Every year, more than 700 people come to experience the booths, music and food of Carpe Diem. Each one is a celebration of the 60 different countries represented by SEMO’s students, faculty and staff, who bring a piece of their home countries to Cape Girardeau.