Students gathered in the Peter V. Ueberroth Gymnasium on April 17 for the start of the Multicultural Symposium. The annual event organized by Sage Advocates for Multicultural Education (S.A.M.E.), featured the new theme “Ikigai,” a Japanese phrase meaning “finding joy through purpose.”
Judge Carly Edelstein, an alumna from the class of 2004, delivered the keynote speech about her journey of service. From handing out quarters to unhoused people as a young child to presiding as an elected judge with the Ohio 10th District Court of Appeals, Edelstein emphasized how she found joy through serving her community and country.
After graduating from Brown University, Edelstein joined Teach for America working in an underfunded school in Watts, Calif. where she encountered the limitations on teachers’ ability to improve students’ quality of life and education. She decided to attend UC Irvine School of Law and become an attorney to advocate for underprivileged children. After a stint clerking for a federal judge, she went on to protect students’ civil rights in the U.S. Department of Education and countering discrimination and injustice in criminal cases as a public defender.
“Law has the power to make meaningful systemic change,” she said. “I wanted to use the skill and privilege I had to make an impact in my community.”
After the keynote, students split off into their separate workshops they chose a month prior. There were over 40 unique workshops and seminars, both student and faculty run, covering a range of topics from k-pop dance to alienation in modern society to sustainable fashion.
Junior Daana (Danny) Al-Ali worked with Sophomore Aisha Muhsin to create the seminar, “The Search for a Homeland,” focusing on Middle Eastern and North African refugees. When asked about her main takeaway from the experience, she said, “There’s a lot I hadn’t taken into consideration about a topic I thought I knew a lot about. I’ve been reading about this topic all my life, and ended up coming out of this experience with pretty different perspectives.”
Sophomore Sophia Montgomery attended a sustainable fashion workshop and was excited to see how many of her peers shared this interest.
“I think the Multicultural Symposium is a great opportunity to learn about things that we normally wouldn’t get to learn about and see what my fellow students are passionate about.” Sophia said.
