Have you ever walked down the streets of San Francisco and noticed the convergence of dialogues from all over the globe? Have you found yourself saying, “I wish I could find a place in the valley that has as much culture as that one strip of concrete in the Bay Area”? Well, look no further than California State University, Stanislaus. The answer is a club called Cultures United.
Cultures United is a club that offers international students and U.S. residents the chance to meet weekly and learn about one another, both culturally and socially.  Some of the Cultures United members are in the English Language Program (ELP) on campus, which is designed to help its students pass the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) exam and go on to achieve their academic goals.
Cultures United wanted to make sure the name of the club represented each of its members. The club is made up of all different types of people, from students who were born in Modesto to students coming here from Norway, Russia, Brazil, China, and Japan.
The club is involved with school activities, as well as member outreach. They have an intramural soccer and volleyball team, and every week the club hosts Local’s Night, which is planned by their Community Facilitator Tim Oldenburg, a graduate student in the credential program. Each week, the club meets at different local hang outs, such as Grizzly Rock Cafe, Golden China Restaurant, and Elvias Taco Truck, to name a few. Friday evenings, the club can be found in the Carol Burke Lounge at 4:30 p.m. for an informal coffee hour, where they do everything from talk about school to their weekend plans.
“We try to do some activities because the whole purpose of the club is to establish relationships among each other, a community,” said Grant Parsons, club president and graduate student studying TESOL at CSU Stanislaus.
Members of Cultures United have nothing but praise for the club.
“My English is getting better and better, and Cultures United is useful since I am an English as second language learner,” said Clyde Chen, ELP student and art director for the club. “We can talk to each other and make friends. International students get pretty lonely when you don’t have those clubs.”
Parsons agrees about the benefits a club like Cultures United can have on students studying here from around the world.
“A lot of the ELP students would go to class and then go home to their dorms and stay in their rooms for the rest of the day, so their exposure to the U.S. language and culture was limited to the classroom,” Parsons said.
Cultures United  is always accepting new members and meets weekly on Sundays at 4:30 p.m. in Bizzini 202. Look for the club’s table in the quad and find Cultures United on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/groups/247786465280936/.