Although the semester has just started and finals aren’t until May, that doesn’t stop people from unleashing their creativity and easing their stress that comes with balancing the life of a college student.
The APIDA resource center, which supports Asian, Pacific Islander and Desi Americans students, held a watercolor workshop at the student lounge on Tuesday Feb. 18, 2025, for students to collaborate with one another and grow in their confidence in their culture.
Organized by theater arts supervisor Matthew Maranaga and facilitated by Theatre arts major Zachary Ninomya.
A total of 11 students showed up to make artwork celebrating the art form. They chattered as they painted, listened to lo-fi music and ate snacks to let all their self-esteem build.
For art majors, this activity meant so much more than a leisure. “It’s really different to be creating art for myself and not other people, so it’s a nice change,” said Ninomya.
Some students put a lot of effort into their artwork, while others just had fun without much experience. Nonetheless, they were still having a great time.
According to the resource center, one of the main goals is to help students transfer to major universities and decrease barriers by giving college tours to universities such as Cal State Fullerton, helping them complete their transferable courses, and helping with scholarships. The Orange County Asian Pacific Islander Community Alliance (OCAPICA) also partners with them to help collaborate future workshops with the students to connect them with their heritage and identities.
The workshop was also a form of stress relief for college students stressed about financial insecurities and other personal problems.
“Classes are really hard, you know, like there’s lots of different factors and being a student that makes it really challenging sometimes, and so I think thats’s what we’re hoping to be at the center is like a safe place for students to chill out and seek support. If they need to, because there’s a lot going on, like every student has their own story and their own experiences that will affect their stress levels, so they wanna help as much as we can,” says APIDA Amplified resource project manager Rachel Reyes.
Water color and other hobbies are proven scientifically The Mental Health Benefits of Painting – Watercolour Workshop to regulate anxiety. This is something ideal for students and events like these can create a safe space to talk to somebody and really relax and connect with counselors who understand them.
This event is one of many here that the resource center has planned for these upcoming months. The center has more events planned in April and May for APIDA Heritage Month.
“We have a journaling workshop. This is with the Orange County Asian Pacific Islander Community Alliance. We have one workshop in February and one in March and another one in April. We also have CSUF March 7. We try to do something every couple of weeks,” said Reyes.
Reyes has been working at the center for six months— since the center opened. She also works in an internship at University of California Irvine. Reyes learned all about psychology and the science of stress after getting a postgraduate certificate from UCLA.
At the end of the workshop, seven watercolor pieces were collected to be hung up and framed on the wall above the couches.
“I would say that art can be a mindfulness activity where you are in the moment. It can take people’s minds off of exams as the assignments and exams,” said Reyes. “The stress that comes with being a student means we want to have a space on campus where people can relax during the day.”
*This article was updated on March 3, 2025 to make a date correction. The workshop was stated to have taken place on Feb. 12, 2025 but actually took place on Feb. 18, 2025.*
