St. Thomas’ 12th annual International Education Week celebrated global awareness and education with a fashion show, trivia night, soccer tournament and more last week.

Miho Patani, International Student Services office coordinator, said the week extends beyond the university and serves a significant purpose.

“International Education Week is a joint initiative through the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education,” Patani said. “The week celebrates global education and awareness on campuses nationwide.”

To kick the week off, Monday’s International Fashion Show in O’Shaughnessy Education Center featured students representing clothing from 12 countries.

At the International Fair over convocation hour Tuesday, students staffed booths with information and giveaways from about 20 countries.

Junior Shane Deng is part of the Chinese Culture Association and volunteered at the China booth, which included Chinese writing samples, tea and candy for students to try. He said the International Fair was a great opportunity for students.

“They learn what kind of culture there is. For local students from Minnesota, they get a chance to know what kind of international community we have, and they can get this international perspective,” Deng said.

Sophomore Jennifer Bresk attended the fair to visit the table for Spain, where she hopes to study abroad. She said she got great information from the students there.

“I think stuff like this is so fun and great to just experience a little bit of different cultures,” Bresk said.

International Student Services has been coordinating International Education Week in correspondence with the national event since 2002. Patani said the events have remained pretty consistent, with the exception of trivia night, which was added this year.

Scott Carpenter, International Admissions student office assistant, said he was excited about how International Education Week gives the international population on campus attention.

“It’s bringing the international population to the forefront and giving more of a chance for the American students and the international students to come together and share their cultures,” Carpenter said.

Food also enhance the cultural experience on campus. T’s dished up international cuisine such as Greek gyros, French coq au vin (chicken in wine sauce) and a Japanese noodle bar. The View also participated, serving various dishes including Indian aloo matar, Polish bigos, Colombian arroz con coco and Norwegian farika.

Toward the end of the week, graduate student Josh Li presented a CultureLink Tea lecture about his home country, China, and his experience with American education.

“Chinese believe that the best way to protect your children is preparing them for the future and letting them see what they are capable of,” Li said. “And the Chinese believe the best way to achieve the successful is if you are a good student.”

The last day of the culture week featured a soccer match at O’Shaughnessy Stadium and CultureFest at OEC, a celebration of various cultures on campus.

Patani said the goal of International Education Week has always been promoting awareness of the global community and letting students proudly express their cultural background and experiences.

“(The goal is) to highlight where our students are coming from and to provide opportunities to students to showcase their countries to the UST community to enrich cultural experiences for students, faculty and staff,” Patani said.

Lauren Smith can be reached at smit7607@stthomas.edu.