In the United States, our wishes end up in penny-filled fountains, blown-out birthday candles and the faces of clocks on the stroke of 11:11. In Japan, wishes are lit in handmade lanterns and floated out on the water to create a colorful spectrum of light throughout the night.

This Thursday will mark the annual “Lanterns on the Lake” celebration put on by the Asian Pacific American Awareness Coalition. The event will run from 6 to 10 p.m. at Lake LaVerne.

Alex Ung, coalition co-president and sophomore in civil engineering, has played a major role in coordinating the celebration.

“This is going to be a big event,” Ung said. “We’re going to have over 100 lanterns this year to celebrate the Japanese tradition of floating lanterns out onto the water. The lanterns are a representation of the wishes, dreams and aspirations we all have.”

The lanterns, made of plastic foam, wire and tissue, will first be arranged on the shore, then lit and pushed out into the middle of the lake.

“There are two different types of lanterns this year,” Ung said. “There will be handmade lotus and box lanterns with a T-handle set that take about five days to make. After we push the lanterns out onto the lake, we’ll let them sit through the night for everyone to enjoy them and collect them in the morning.”

As one of the organization’s biggest events, “Lanterns on the Lake” has taken a considerable amount of the coalition’s time to organize and plan, Ung said. The event is sure to produce a beautiful scene on Lake LaVerne, he added.

“The lanterns will be lighting up Lake LaVerne all night, so I invite everyone to come out and enjoy a part of Japanese tradition that everybody can enjoy,” he said.

In addition to “Lanterns on the Lake,” the coalition organizes a number of different events throughout the year. Cy Lor, coalition secretary and sophomore in pre-business, has helped set up the various events. Lor said April is Asian Heritage Month at Iowa State.

“Traditionally, it would be celebrated in May, but we want to be part of the school year,” Lor said. “There is a lot going on to raise issues on Asian Pacific American awareness, and APAAC is in charge of all of it.”

The coalition meets Wednesdays at 7 p.m. in the Memorial Union and anyone who is interested in Asian Pacific American issues is invited to attend. Recently, the organization brought comedian Bobby Lee from “MADtv” to campus.

On April 18, Gil Asakawa will present a lecture titled “Being Asian American” at 8 p.m. in the Sun Room of the Memorial Union.

The same week, the coalition will hold its annual spring concert from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. April 22 in the Great Hall of the Memorial Union.