There is much I can recall from Riordan’s first ever Cultural Night, from the hype surrounding me during performances to the delicious taste of ethnic cuisines bouncing on my tongue, making me pretty excited for our next diverse festival.

Riordan is a very diverse community, with kids literally from all over the world thanks to our boarding program. It really is important to honor the backgrounds of our students, our community, things that make us who we are as a school.

This Cultural Night is the occasion to honor our backgrounds, an occasion where we can share our distinct cultures and connect with each other through food, performances, and ethnic clothing.

I genuinely love this event and hope it’ll be back next year. The diverse foods are loved by our student body, with Greta Wong ’28 commenting, “I can’t choose a favorite food because I tasted so many things and they were all so delicious!”

The performances are made with great efforts, helping students befriend people they don’t know that well through their cultural connections.

Riordan’s Student Body President and Irish dance performer Caroline O’Connell ’25 expressed her change in relationship with other performers, saying, “Although most of us went to different dance academies, competed against each other, and some didn’t know each other very well at first, we put our talents together to create an awesome piece that highlighted each of us and became great friends.”

A performer at the event, Dr. Caroline Gochoco-Tsuyuki, believes that “[Our] Cultural Night should be very big for ALL students and staff…The more we all learn about the beauty of our diverse cultures, the more understanding of each other we become.”

I agree with Dr. T. Culture should be shared so that we can understand and respect each other. With the Riordan Cultural Night’s value in benefiting our community and how it is so much fun with all the cultural aspects of the event, I am already looking forward to next year.