NATCHITOCHES – Northwestern State University students gathered Saturday for No Time for a Siesta, We’re Having a Fiesta, an event that provided an opportunity for international and domestic students to meet as the fall semester began.
The event, commonly known as Siesta Fiesta, was held Aug. 22 in the Student Union Plaza and included live music, tacos, churros, mocktails and other activities. Siesta Fiesta was sponsored by the Office of First Year Experience and the International Student Resource Center.
Gabriel Polo, an international student from Colombia and a senior vocal performance major, has participated in Siesta Fiesta since his first year at NSU as a singer in the band that performs at the event. Now in his fifth year at NSU, he said participating in first-week traditions helped him develop a connection to the university.
“We have a lot of events in the first week like Color Chaos, and we have Siesta Fiesta,” Polo said. “When you start doing all these events and participating, you start getting very close to the university.”
Events such as Siesta Fiesta give international students an opportunity to meet domestic students outside the classroom while introducing the broader campus community to students from different countries and cultures.
“I know that we have a very big diversity,” Polo said. “I think that is so beautiful when you start sharing those types of languages, rhythms, vibes. When you start mixing all of that with everybody, it’s an enrichment for the students that are from here and also for us as international students.”
International students are part of a geographically diverse incoming class at NSU this fall. The Class of 2030 includes students from 45 international high schools, along with 262 U.S. high schools and 60 of Louisiana’s 64 parishes.
For Polo, the connections he has made during his time at NSU have shaped his experience as an international student.
“I would say that NSU is the best thing that has ever happened to me,” Polo said. “I think that this is our university, and it’s a special place.”
Siesta Fiesta was part of Demon Days, a series of events during the first 42 days of the fall semester designed to welcome new and returning students to NSU.
For more information about international student resources at NSU, visit the International Student Resource Center at nsula.edu/admissions/international/.