{"id":2730,"date":"2025-01-09T15:10:30","date_gmt":"2025-01-09T15:10:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lsa.umich.edu\/studentvoices\/?p=2730"},"modified":"2025-01-13T14:39:52","modified_gmt":"2025-01-13T14:39:52","slug":"annual-cultural-show-indian-american-student-association","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/courses.lsa.umich.edu\/studentvoices\/2025\/01\/09\/annual-cultural-show-indian-american-student-association\/","title":{"rendered":"Annual Cultural Show – Indian American Student Association"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Priya Kalra<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On November 15th, 2024, the Indian American Student Association (IASA) at the University of Michigan
hosted its annual cultural show at the Michigan Theater. This event showcases diverse aspects of Indian
culture through over ten dance performances, with all choreographers and dancers being students from
various backgrounds. While this event is a celebration of art and heritage, it also serves as a platform to
give back to the community, as all proceeds from show ticket sales are donated to a selected charity. This
year, we selected Akshaya Patra as our charity partner, an organization dedicated to fighting childhood
hunger and improving access to education by providing nutritious meals and scholarships to children in
need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


As the Community Service Chair for IASA, I had the privilege of selecting this year\u2019s charity and
overseeing the allocation of the proceeds raised through ticket sales. Additionally, I was responsible for
organizing service initiatives for our members, such as a Day of Service at a women\u2019s and children\u2019s
shelter in Detroit and a blanket-making and care package event. These experiences highlighted the
importance of incremental progress in achieving larger goals, a principle aligned with the BLI habit Start
Small. By setting achievable objectives and working systematically, we were able to deliver meaningful
outcomes and make an impact on the community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Helping to manage our annual culture show, an event of extremely large scale, required thorough
preparation and the ability to anticipate and address challenges effectively. My experience as a board
member during the show reinforced the importance of adaptability and resilience, core elements of the
BLI habit Expect Challenges. Furthermore, as a performer in the dance, I also had to juggle attending
rehearsals and ensuring I could successfully perform at the show. By approaching obstacles with a
proactive and solutions-oriented mindset, I was able to gain valuable insights into effective
problem-solving and team coordination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


As a senior, I am committed to leaving a lasting impact on the organization. My focus has shifted toward
supporting the next generation of board members by documenting my experiences and providing
guidance to future peers. I hope that sharing these insights will ease the transition for incoming leaders
and ensure the continued success of our initiatives. This year\u2019s cultural show served as a profound
learning experience, highlighting the intersection of creativity, leadership, and community service. As I
prepare to graduate college and transition into the next phase of my life, I am confident that the
organizational, time management, and problem-solving skills I honed through this experience will serve
me well in my professional career. Furthermore, the lessons I learned relating to the importance of
adaptability, teamwork, and giving back to the community will continue to guide my approach to future
challenges and opportunities, ensuring that I carry forward the values of leadership and service wherever I
go.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Priya Kalra On November 15th, 2024, the Indian American Student Association (IASA) at the University of Michiganhosted its annual cultural show at the Michigan Theater. This event showcases diverse aspects of Indianculture through over ten dance performances, with all choreographers and dancers being students fromvarious backgrounds. While this event is a celebration of art […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":391,"featured_media":2736,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,12],"tags":[64,93,219],"class_list":["post-2730","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-funding","category-project-grants","tag-bli","tag-community","tag-leadership"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/courses.lsa.umich.edu\/studentvoices\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2025\/01\/75F66CA9-80D9-47A9-ABF9-AEFE8BA43557_1_102_o-Priya-Kalra-1.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lsa.umich.edu\/studentvoices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2730","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lsa.umich.edu\/studentvoices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lsa.umich.edu\/studentvoices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lsa.umich.edu\/studentvoices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/391"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lsa.umich.edu\/studentvoices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2730"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lsa.umich.edu\/studentvoices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2730\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2732,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lsa.umich.edu\/studentvoices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2730\/revisions\/2732"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lsa.umich.edu\/studentvoices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2736"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lsa.umich.edu\/studentvoices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2730"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lsa.umich.edu\/studentvoices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2730"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lsa.umich.edu\/studentvoices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2730"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}