Kevin Alexis Lopez, senior in Media, never drank tea. In fact, he still doesn’t drink tea. At Tea and Company, the University’s tea-drinking social RSO, he just fills his mug with hot water.
Lopez, like many others in the RSO, attends weekly meetings not just for tea, but to socialize in a tranquil environment. Tea and Company’s Sunday meetings are for relaxing, homework and mingling. All members have to do to join is bring their own mug and be ready to chat.
“It’s almost like a pocket dimension,” Lopez said. “It’s all these different little conversations you can just jump scene to scene between. It really has that picturesque college vibe of just a bunch of people hanging out, and I think that’s really amazing.”
Tea and Company relies on donations to provide tea at every meeting since the University doesn’t allow RSOs to use funds on food items. Often, students will bring in tea from their own personal collection to share, leading to in-depth discussions about types of teas and how to prepare them. As part of a green initiative, Tea and Company asks that members bring their own mugs to meetings rather than using disposable cups.
Students’ reasons for joining Tea and Company vary. Travis Huynh, senior in LAS and vice president of Tea and Company, has a deep familial connection with tea. Huynh is an avid tea drinker and will often share his ceremonial tea practices with other members.
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While Tea and Company doesn’t often perform tea ceremonies, Huynh believes that tea is the gateway to starting conversations and forming bonds.
“There’s not a specific lecture series or emphasis or focus (on tea ceremonies) throughout the meetings,” Huynh said. “It just kind of comes up through people’s own lived experiences with tea. They bring their cultural backgrounds into it.”
While some students bring homework to work on, many of the members enjoy the club as a break from busy student life. Students still find time in their schedules to fit it in.
Annaliese Harper, graduate student studying social work, joined Tea and Company her sophomore year and serves as the group’s membership director.
“We’ll sometimes have people come in and say, ‘This is my one break from work and classwork and everything during the week. This is the one time where I can sit and relax and breathe before getting right back into the crazy school schedule,’” Harper said.
Tea and Company has started many friendships. Lopez, for one, met his best friend this semester by attending weekly meetings. Romantic relationships have even formed in the RSO. One couple would have dates at Tea and Company meetings, and recently, that same couple got married.
Huynh says that the RSO becomes an intimate space, where secrets can even be shared among members.
“People just come in, they spill their secrets and what they’ve been going through,” Huynh said. “Other members just hop in, give their insights or advice, offer comfort or their perspectives. So we kind of jokingly say that it’s a tea club, it’s also ‘tea’ club.”
Tea and Company will continue to meet on Sundays at 2 p.m. President of Tea and Company and senior in Business, Valerie Zapata, aims for the space to continue to create a relaxing ambiance that is welcoming and social.
“If I had to describe it in one word, I would describe Tea and Company as very tranquil,” Zapata said. “It was just something that I could keep going to, and felt like it wasn’t an obligation, but it was something I looked forward to.”
