3rd Annual Pumpkin Carving Party: New Location, New Faces

Each year, the annual Pumpkin Carving Party arouses curiosity and interest, especially our international students who have never participated in such an event. This year, the event was held at our new facility in Los Angeles.

"This year was great. I am happy that we were able to hold the event in Los Angeles this year. It made it possible for more students and faculty to attend", said Director Ryan Doan.

The event, organized by IAU staff, included food, fun, and of course - pumpkin carving! The stencils provided ranged from traditional Halloween icons, such as witches and spiders to the comical "Kool-Aid" man. Professors, students, and students had an opportunity to let loose and dress up. Special "guests" included Indiana Jones, Mario Brother, the Cowardly Lion and Scarecrow. Late, but not least, was Darth Vader, Princess Leia, and Bobo Fet.

Some of our S.Korean international students came with their wives and children. Sanjana, a new resident to California, was accompanied by her husband. Sanjana, who originally enrolled in IAU's online MBA program while living in New York, will be starting IAU's campus MBA program in the spring 2011. Hong, a Vietnamese international DBA student said she had never seen pumpkin carving before and was intrigued by the activity.

Thuan and Kim, both online MBA students, stopped by the party with significant others and friends. As with many online students, many will never get to meet their professors face-to-face due to distance. Fortunately, both these students are local to southern California and this event was an opportunity for these online students to meet the faculty and staff of IAU.

Professors - Dr. Langvardt, Dr. Mestman, Gregg Eichler, Nich Hua, and Joe Siegmund also made the event.

We appreciate all who attended to make this event fun and fantastic. Words can only do so much to describe the event. See you all for next year's event!

Please click to view the photos of this event.