By Savannah Cooper | Staff Writer
Middle school friends from an international school in Singapore reunited at Baylor over lunch at Torchy’s Tacos and realized that there was no organization on campus that was geared towards students like them.
From that conversation, the Third Culture Kid, TCK, club was born and was formally introduced to campus at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Bobo at their interest meeting.
Kate Hambly, a junior from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, president and co-founder of TCK, and Kaitlin Turman, Houston sophomore and vice president of TCK, are excited for the unique opportunity as a new organization on campus that has great flexibility.
“We don’t want our club to be full of structure and feel like people have to overcommit to it,” Turman said. “We’re really just wanting to create a sense of community.”
TCK is a term that describes the upbringing of various groups of kids who are now older, in college or in a career.
“TCK essentially is your first culture is your parents’ culture, second culture is the one you’re living in and the third culture is the combination of those two,” Hambly said.
As a club, TCK is striving to create a safety net for students who are easing into the American culture without family, a car or knowledge about basic things most Americans take for granted like our currency system, taxes or the transit system.
Despite having a four year jump on adjusting to American culture, Turman couldn’t find someone that could relate to her and therefore pushed those emotions away until now.
“In high school there wasn’t anyone who could relate to me, so I just pushed those experiences back in my mind until I got to college and kept seeing people I know from Asia,” Turman said. “Even four years later, in a way I’m still adjusting just because it’s totally different from the way I grew up.”
For the first 30 minutes,of Tuesday’s interest meeting, the executive board introduced themselves and casted their vision for the upcoming year. Next, the floor was opened to those who wanted to share the things they’re hoping to see from the club. Afterwards, the executive board announced that they’re looking for a treasurer and people interested in becoming members with a $5 dues payment.
Directly after their interest meeting, TCK co-hosted a neighbor night, also in the Bobo, with a panel of TCKs discussing their experiences while eating a Malaysian dinner.
