Editor’s Note: We’re throwing it back to October with this week’s Campus Celebrity, Jennifer Reed!
Photo by SCOTT WU
Jennifer Reed is a fifth-year psychology student with a minor in advertising, which she hopes to use to make mental health more visible in society. She serves as the Vice President of the Korean American Student Association, and has helf multiple executive positions, in addition to being an active member in several Asian-interest organizations on campus. Reed is also the Director for the 8th Annual Journey to the East at the University of South Florida. It is a weeklong program that took place from September 14th- 20th and featured a different event every day. These events were designed to celebrate and educate the Tampa community about Asian culture, and the week ended with a banquet that was held on the weekend. This year’s theme was Breaking Boundaries, modeled after the Divergent series with the events tying into the five factions of the franchise such as Amity and Monday’s event with free food and drinks, and Erudite and Tuesday’s presentation about Asian stereotypes.
JE2015: Breaking Boundaries. Banner designed by AD of Multimedia/Marketing Camille Ubas and Director Jennifer Reed.
Journey to the East (JE) was founded in 2008 by three former USF students to unite the “handful of Asian-interest organizations” on campus at the time, and “build a strong Asian American community here at USF.” It has since grown to be co-hosted by 11 different Asian and South Asian-interest organizations. Organizations that participated this year included: Asian Students in America, the Association of Filipino Students, Vietnamese Student Association, Korean American Student Association, Japanese Club, Bengali Student Association, Chinese Culture and Language Club, Alpha Kappa Delta Phi Sorority, Pi Delta Psi Fraternity, Sigma Beta Rho Fraternity, and Delta Phi Omega Sorority.
Reed recalls attending JE as a first-year student and cites the annual fall program as a large factor in her decision to get involved in the multicultural community and orgs at USF. She explained that “seeing everyone from different cultures coming together and enjoying each other’s company was inspiring and admirable.”
Photo by SCOTT WU. Representatives of the participating organizations in JE2015.
As a director of the event, this heartfelt commitment is vital and fundamental. The task of scheduling meetings between multiple org representatives, booking event space, and delegating responsibilities for nearly six consecutive days is nothing, if not a challenge. JE is a “collaborative effort between multiple organizations”, and therefore does not receive funding from the university.
Rather, the co-hosting orgs donate their Activity & Service Funds to cover the larger costs like booking the Oval Theater, in addition to fundraising (such as give back days at restaurants, car washes, music festival shifts) prior to JE Week. Supporters and past directors also make donations, and most of the food served at events is sponsored by local Asian restaurants. Reed found comfort in dedicated planning, for organizing events she advises thinking about “all the difficult obstacles that you could possibly experience…and prepare how to resolve them if need be.”
To successfully execute such a large-scale program, the Director relies heavily on their Assistant Directors, or ADs. “Leaders create the best events when they come together,” Reed said.
Despite such glowing reviews, Reed was not initially interested in becoming Director. The ADs function as the pool of candidates for Director of the following year’s JE, and as AD of Multimedia/Marketing in JE2014: Elements of Change, Reed was under consideration for the gig. However, it was only after she “gained leadership experience and became more passionate about uniting the Asian community at USF” that Reed felt up to taking on the responsibility of Director—a position only eight other people have held so far.
Serving on the JE Executive Board brings Directors and their ADs close, and Reed had nothing but admiration for her predecessors. She credits Romel Pancho (one of the original founders of JE) and Alvyn Dimaculangan (last year’s Director) as two of her motivators to accept the position, and complimented Dimaculangan specifically as a “naturally” great leader whom she admires for his passion “regarding the Asian community.”
Photo by SCOTT WU. The JE2015 eboard and guests photographed at the Banquet. Left to right: Devin Tran, Giovanni Perez, Tahseen Jahan, Jennifer Reed, Samson Lu, Camille Ubas, Brandon Pham, Andy Le, Scott Wu.
“Being a part of the JE executive board is one of the most rewarding experiences there is, ask any past member. Not only do you grow personally and professionally, but you gain a new family,” Reed said.
She went on to caution, however: “You shouldn’t become Director because you want to be recognized as being a leader or creator of something great, but because you want others to learn, enjoy, and grow from the experience.”