ASO Comes Together

By Arakel Arisian
ASO President

Often an organization needs an event or activity to come together and realize its true potential.  Such was the case with the Armenian Students Organization and the All-State Armenian Students Organizations Convention held on the weekend of October 23-25.  The Convention was one the biggest events of the year for the club and it gave everyone the opportunity to work on something truly special and important.

In March of 1981, the Fresno State ASO students decided they were going to have a Students’ Convention with the purpose of discussing, learning, and socializing.  They held one and it was a huge accomplishment.  Unfortunately a tradition was not formed and there had not been anything like it until now.  Since there was no recent example to follow, the organizing of the convention necessitated creativity and lots of input by the students.  For hours, members sat around and brainstormed on what students today are interested in.

This type of intense planning and involvement brought everyone closer together.  Everyone had his or her part in hosting the big event.  That gave each individual a sense of ownership and responsibility.  There are an enormous amount of things that need to be done for putting together such an activity.  Everything from the registration of participants to the preparation for the Saturday night dance.  So if each person can do  their little part, everything can be done.  For the most part, that was the case.

The end result of an endeavor like this has many parts to it.  The contacts established, the information learned, and the fun memories are all results of the Convention.  An unnoticed outcome of the convention was the bond that was formed between the members of our ASO.  The Convention signified the coming together and maturation of the ASO and in the long run is a building block for bigger and better events such as this one.