At Tucson Meet Yourself on November 11, 12 and 13, many diverse UA clubs cooked and
sold their organization’s traditional food. Clubs like Filipino American Student Association,
Vietnamese Student Association, Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Club and Korean International
Student Society cooperated in one of Tucson’s biggest festivals. All clubs made a generous
amount of profit to support their upcoming events.
“TMY is a good experience and fun because you learn about different organizations.” said
FASA President and Education senior, Rachel Tinimbang. “It’s a great learning experience for
clubs and a great way to get more involved in the community. I loved cooking food with my
eboard and seeing the reactions of the customers after they ate the food.”
In 2012, TMY went through a total transformation that doubled the festival’s size, upgraded
internal systems and hired stuff thus increasing local support. In that year participating cultural
clubs and nonprofit associations raised about $250,000 through sales at the festival.
“It’s (TMY) is a fun experience because you get to see many types of cultures like the food they
have and I like the exposure to new things. You get to meet new people,” said VSA President
and Public Health sophomore, Hon Ng. “and work with them. The best part is eating the food
because they’re different and other organizations perform dances.”
As a “folklife” festival, TMY is known for bringing together different cultures to let the
community experience diverse food, music, dancing and art. It’s a non-profit organization
and is held in Downtown Tucson. TMY has been a tradition in Arizona since 1974. Dr. James
Griffith, The UA’s folklorist and anthropologist is the founder of the festival and plans to keep
the tradition for a while.