As people filtered in and out of the Student Commons on Tuesday and Thursday of last week, the different scents of various cultures’ foods drifted around. The annual International Feast was held on Tuesday, Jan. 4th and Thursday, Jan. 6th this year, and it didn’t disappoint.

“My experience was brief, but I enjoyed it. My favorite part was seeing a little bit of each culture and trying something new,” sophomore Owais Aslam said.

There are over fifteen cultural clubs at Niles West, and many of them sold their cultural foods at the International Feast.

“Selling for Futuro Latino was fun for me because I liked having to assemble the food and giving it to people… my favorite part was the day Futuro Latino was selling, and I had brought in stuff to make elotes. They sold out pretty fast, and that made me happy knowing not only Latinos know what elotes are,” sophomore Elizabeth Perez said.

Even students who aren’t in cultural clubs enjoy International Week and discovering new, diverse foods.

“My experience was great, and I loved trying new foods and exploring new flavors. Some food stood out more than others, but it was all great… Food gives you the opportunity to explore other cultures and bring people together. It was a way to showcase Niles West’s population,” sophomore Bianca Gabriel said.

Many students at Niles West would agree that it’s important to have diversity at school, even food-wise.

“I think the international feast is important because it brings everyone together through food,” Aslam said.

“Diversity brings so many levels of understanding from different cultures, and it’s a way to learn from each other,” Gabriel said.

Members of different cultural clubs, especially enjoy being able to perceive different ethnicities as well.

“I think that having the international feast really represents how West is a diverse school. It brings lots of different foods from other countries which makes people try new foods aside from their own,” Perez said.