Students hit it off at successful International Mingle Night

International Center hoping to host more events like this in the future

The International Mingle Night that took place on Saturday, Oct. 30 in the Centennial Student Ballroom was truly special.

The event was hosted by the Elizabeth and Wynn Kearney Center for International Students and Scholar Services and was the first of its kind.

The brains behind the event as well as the main facilitator, Stephanie Gonzalez, the assistant director of Recruitment and Retention at the International Center, was thrilled that the event turned out to be a success. Gonzalez is new to Minnesota State University, Mankato and states that she was successful with events of the same caliber at the previous university she worked at and thought she would give it a shot on this campus. The event was an excellent forum for social interaction amongst students and provided a great avenue for students to connect.

“My hope is that students get to mingle across cultures,” Gonzalez said. “The interaction between various cultures will definitely lead to students sharing their life experiences and broadening each other’s perceptions on various issues.”

Gonzalez’s experience gained from hosting an event of the same nature at her previous job aided her in setting up this event, as well as knowing all that was expected in terms of food, workforce and ideas to make the night phenomenal.

“Students always turned out in good numbers and had a lovely time at the events at the previous university I worked in, thus I hope it will also be a success at this university,” Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez states that the event provides a platform for students to form relationships which can make a significant difference not only in their college lives, but beyond that as well.

The turnout at the event was highly impressive for an occasion that was the first of its kind. The icebreaker games at the event played a huge role in getting students to relax and opening dialogue between students. These games were highly invigorating as they not only acted as instruments to aid in bonding but also touched on the creativity of students. One of these icebreakers entailed each student contributing a single sentence to a story without letting their fellow students know what they wrote. At the end of the game, the story was read to the everyone by the facilitators of the group and without a doubt every story had a very fascinating aspect to it.

The International Center hopes it provided students with a great welcoming opportunity for them to connect and build networks with other students. The event also acted as a test to note the areas where it can be improved upon if it were to take place either the next semester or next academic year.

Gonzalez sincerely hopes that students had a wonderful time at the International Mingle Night and that the night could become an annual tradition that is incorporated into Maverick Culture. Forming lasting relationships as well as connecting with other students are core parts of college and events like the International Mingle Night are outstanding activities that aid in making the process of bonding easier.