This year marks HMSA’s 20th anniversary of our Multicultural celebration! Multi 2025 introduced us to the culinary, theatrical, and artistic traditions of Nigeria, Mexico, Eritrea, India, Ethiopia, and many more. Freshman Aviators and first-time attendees of the event were exposed to a lot of these cultures for the first time. We compiled some of your favorite parts of Multi and things you’ve learned in the excerpts below and in our gallery!
“I experienced so many exciting and new cultures at Multi. The weeks leading up to Multicultural was a fascinating journey, especially seeing everyone get involved and fully immerse themselves. I even learned new dances from Mexico, like the folklórico la bruja. The food was spectacular–I even set a limit to how much I could eat, in case I got too full before performing. Overall, there was a grand variety of countries and cultures all coming together to make a wonderful night!” – Valerie N.
“One thing I learned about my culture, Eritrean culture, is that you’re supposed to have your hair in a certain type of braid when you wear the dress out of tradition. Although I couldn’t do it this year, I plan to completely delve into my culture next Multicultural. I also learned how important it is to educate people about where I’m from because of the beauty of Eritrea!” – Arsiema G.
“I learned about different kinds of cultural outfits from Nigeria. One of them is the Ankara fabric dress. It merges together different patterns and is very colorful.” – Mercy U.
“Multicultural was a great experience that I would do again next year. I represented Eritrean cultural clothing and learned so many different things. My favorite part was Multicultural night where I failed to catch an item in front of everyone. Overall, Multicultural provided a great experience, and the different set of foods was amazing. The food was amazing, especially the collard greens.” – Earl C.
“Coming into Multi, I got to experience many new cultures, mainly through the food that was brought. Through the many cultural dishes I ate from Hispanic and African culture, I’ve developed a new appreciation for the cultures that make up the world we know.” – Jayden L.
Gabriel M. L.: “For the past two years, I had stuck to doing the same culture. For this I have expanded my knowledge of other cultures by researching cultures in Southeast Asia. I learned about the importance of the lotus flower and how it represents purity and rebirth in religions like Hinduism and Buddhism.”
“The food for this year’s multicultural festival astounded me. I got to indulge in a large variety of unique dishes with an overwhelming amount of options. I tried curry for the first time–life changing.” – Kaden N.
“Like my brother, I also tried curry for the first time. I cannot imagine another experience like Multi; the culinary experiences & performances were like a museum, but instead of artifacts it’s food and dancing! It was really fun to see a part of people that we don’t see often despite it being so integral to who we are.” – Jonathan N.
