After graduating from post-secondary, some can have a hard time making friends in their work lives and need a change from their day-to-day.
That’s where Roots Collective comes in.
Originally started in Vancouver, Roots Collective focuses on sharing and honouring Asian pop culture in North America through a range of events. From the Holiday Pokemon Ornament Workshop and Noodle Festival to the Ice Skating S0cial, Roots Collective welcomes people who want to make friends and reconnect after post-secondary.
“With this type of event, people are willing to come out of their shells and willing to spend three hours in a controlled event and make connections,” said Tony Tran, a member of the Roots Collective Team.
The collective’s first informal outdoor-based event, the Ice Skating Social, took place at The Olympic Oval on Jan. 14. It brought together many people of the same cultural background to connect and make new friends through ice skating, followed by a dinner later on.
Victoria Lee recently joined the Roots Collective and became one of the main organizers alongside Tran.
“I joined with Collective because I just graduated, started working and was having trouble finding a friend outside of work,” said Lee.
Even though Roots Collective is welcoming anyone into their team, it always flows back to the Asian American-Canadian diaspora, according to Tran.
One such example is Grace Park, who joined Roots Collective on her boyfriend’s recommendations.
“As an immigrant, sometimes I can feel the cultural difference from different people,” said Park. “But here, we can make a similar bond due to our Asian background.”
According to Stone He, a member of the Roots Collective, the social is also a great way to let people exercise on cold winter days.
“When the temperature is low, people tend to stay indoors a lot more,” said He. “So we try to get them to come out and have fun.”
Most Roots Collective events require minimal payment unless they are ticketed. And more activities are coming from Roots Collective in the near future.
“I’m sure that it’s gonna bring joy and happiness to us as a community,” he said. “We are really happy to see these people come out and enjoy themselves.”
