Orientation Night for FSA

With the start of a new decade comes new goals, new ideas, and new opportunities for growth. The young leaders of the Filipino Students’ Association (FSA) have taken this to heart and are finding ways to break free from the surface-level image of the Filipino culture.

The feeling of being lost and overwhelmed by life is not a foreign one. Everyone has felt this way at some point in their lives. We understand what it feels like to not fit perfectly into your parents’ culture, nor the culture of where you live.

FSA’s vision for 2020 is to create an inclusive place that Filipinos and Filipinos-at-heart can call ‘home’. This is developed to help its members understand their self, their identity, and their culture more deeply. The club wants to celebrate the Filipino culture and to create the sense of belonging that most people may lack.

With these goals in mind, FSA’s Orientation Night was the perfect way to start off the new decade and the new school year for both the old and new members.

Orientation Night was unlike the previous ones the club has ever had. It had a unique set-up of a free-flowing program much like an expo. There were stalls set-up wherein the different aspects of the club were showcased. The committee also felt that it needed something more that would tie everything together. That’s where Stellar Backdrops comes in.

The theme that night was ‘Fiesta sa Barrio’ or ‘Town Festival’. In collaboration with the Committee members, a feature wall was designed to embody their theme. Using the 'Frangipani Wall', artificial straws were placed at the top to mimic the roof of a 'nipa hut' or bahay kubo.

We are stoked to achieve what FSA had envisioned: nostalgia modernized and made into something fresh. The detailing, reminiscent of a bahay kubo, reminded the members of the Philippines without being explicitly and exclusively “Filipino”.

Stellar Backdrops are proud to sponsor this local Auckland University club and we look forward to being a part of their upcoming events this 2020.

Here are some of the photos from night!