Who: World Student Organization
What: An open membership organization striving to encourage and foster diversity between American and international students
The World Student Organization is one of a kind at Ohio Northern University.
According to co-president, Khadijah Bagais, “Our purpose is to bridge the gap between domestic American students and the international students that we have on campus. We want to provide a friendly environment where students from other parts of the world can interact with Americans, and vice versa; a setting where everyone can learn and enjoy themselves at the same time.”
WSO tries to appeal to international students as well as domestic students in order to promote togetherness. The organization holds events that are considered to be culturally relevant and stress the idea of strength through diversity.
“There’s such an interesting world out there, with so many people who do things similarly or differently from how we do. It’s great to be able to take a step back and reflect upon how these differences serve as strengths. They say by learning more about others, you actually learn more about yourself too, because you realize that not everyone is like you, and then you reflect upon your own way of life and how/why you do things the way you do,” said Bagais.
WSO typically holds their meetings bimonthly, Wednesdays at 7 and welcomes all ONU students. While there will be events held throughout the next few months, the biggest event for WSO is happening in April.
“The next big thing we’re having is going to be the Multicultural Fair on April 10. Every year it has been a blast with over 200 attendees. There are cultural booths, performances, food… it’s all a great time. I personally have done Henna tattoos at the last two fairs. The event is a great opportunity for the ONU and Ada communities to come out and enjoy themselves in an informal environment exploding with the beauty of diversity,” Bagais shared.