The International Students Association and the Chinese Students and Scholars Association conducted a Chinese New Year celebration for the new zodiac year.

The event celebrated the Year of the Goat and informed those in attendance of what it is all about, explained Steven Yang, freshman English major from Thailand.

Yang took part in facilitating the event.

“A lot of people are like ‘Oh, it’s just something the Chinese do,’ but we want to inform others so everybody knows what is happening and what is going on,” Yang said.

The event consisted of the sharing of cultural traditions, such as stories and music and some of the celebration’s participants wore traditional Chinese dress.

Paola Teran, junior nursing major from McKinney, attended the event with one of her coworkers.

“I don’t know anything about the Chinese New Year, but hopefully they have good food,” Teran said. “I would like to learn about their culture and what they do on this day.”

At the event, guests experienced a variety of traditional foods and learned the story behind Chinese New Year.

“For Chinese New Year, families gather together, and we exchange red packets which are full of some money,” Yang said. “If you don’t want to give money, you give some scriptures out. It’s just to celebrate the togetherness of family.”

Yang said the celebration was not particularly hard to plan, but it was slightly difficult promoting and spreading the word about the event.

“From my own experience, a lot of people do not know about this,” Yang said. “I talk to them and they are like, ‘What? I did not know until just now while I’m talking to you.'”

Despite difficulties advertising the celebration, many students and members of the community attended.

“I feel proud of my heritage,” Yang said. “I can share my story, and it makes me happy that people can know more about us.”