Yesterday was Glasapalooza, the end of year celebration for Global Asian Studies. I just wanted to take a moment to congratulate my colleagues on everything they’ve accomplished in growing this program. Anna Guevarra has been a powerhouse directing it!
Our students have been asking for GLAS for a long, long time — this year, we finally have a cultural center, an academic program, and an academic support program — along with finally offering the major, as well as the minor. We graduate our first three majors this spring, along with twenty others who minored in Global Asian Studies; it was moving, seeing how thrilled the students and their parents were.
In theory, I was supposed to play ukulele and help serenade the graduates with Israel (Iz) Kamakawiwoʻole’s rendition of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” but I just didn’t have the time this last month to practice enough to be able to play the chords at tempo. So I sang (very quietly) as back-up to our very impressive classically-trained tenor, Mark Martell, thumped my pretty blue ukulele a little in time, and did some energetic swaying. Hopefully the students were amused, at least. 
If you haven’t heard Iz’s rendition, I recommend it — it’s just lovely.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1bFr2SWP1I
