APA Leaders 2010-2011
Last year, in honor of Asian Pacific Heritage Month, USC APASA went on a search for the top APA leaders on USC campus. After receiving many nominations from these individuals’ peers, we are proud to present to you: USC APA Leaders 2010-2011.
We would like to congratulate these eight amazing individuals on receiving the APA Leader Award as nominated by their peers and reviewed by an APASA committee. Their achievements as a leader for the USC and APA community have been fully noted and appreciated by their peers and we would like to thank them for their dedication.
Adeel Mohammadi
Year: Sophomore
Major/Minor: Religion and Biological Sciences (double major)”
Hometown: Diamond Bar, CA
Favorite Thing About USC: The emphasis on interdisciplinary academics at USC.
Involvements at USC: Residential Education (RA), Daily Trojan, Muslim Student Union, Ansar Service Project, Interfaith Council
What does it mean to you to be an APA Leader?:
I’m not too sure. I suppose that it’s just finding ways to fulfill the needs of the APA community, of finding different ways to explore the different aspects of being APA and trying to share with others your experiences. It’s largely a personal thing, having an honest interest in the different dynamics of this vibrant community and trying to understand your place in it all.
What advice would you give to others who aspire to be leaders for the APA community?:
Be yourself! Look for things that you’d like to see changed, and if you think that others would agree with you, then go for it! And take full advantage of the resources you have–everyone on this campus wants to help. Finally, don’t fear failing, because the worst-case scenario when it comes to failure isn’t all that bad.
Alicia Lu
Year: 2011
Major/Minor: Neuroscience and Sociology
Hometown: Livingston, NJ
Favorite Thing About USC: APASS and the Coop
Involvements at USC: Critical Issues in Race, Class and Leadership Education (CIRCLE), The Nook open mic night, Coalition for a Safer Campus, …
What does it mean to you to be an APA Leader?:
Well, when I think of APA leader, I think of someone who not only identifies as APA, but someone who is critically and purposefully exploring their APA identity, and ultimately advocates for the Asian Pacific American community at large. They are proud of their APA identity, and are part of the wonderful group of people who actively shape the self-defined meaning of “Asian Pacific American.”
Then there’s APA leader. And to me, leadership is much about breaking the cycles that have produced the same unwanted result to contribute to making positive and sustainable change. Oftentimes the most effective way to do so is by taking a route of contribution that enables many, many others to step forward as leaders.
Put these together, you get someone with a really strong sense of purpose.
What advice would you give to others who aspire to be leaders for the APA community?:
Never stop being critical and learning more and more and more! Make sure that being a leader to YOU means that the more you demonstrate leadership, the more and more you learn (none of this hierarchy stuff where “i am the leader therefore i know more and therefore can challenge others’ judgment more and my own judgment less”).
At the same time, trust your own instincts because no one can do it like you can do it! GO FOR IT, make the change. I think many APA cultures place strong emphasis on humility. And so one confusion I am still struggling with is understanding how humility does not contradict with leadership (in fact I think it’s a necessary element to being a good leader!).
These are the first two that come to mind, simply because they are things that I continue to struggle with, and they are qualities/actions that I see in many APA and non-APA leaders that I admire.
Bruce Cabanayan
Year: 2011
Major/Minor: B.S. Biochemistry, Theatre minor
Hometown: Chandler, AZ
Favorite Thing About USC: The way that it pushes people to open their eyes, their ears, and their hearts.
Involvements at USC: President (2010-2011) and Pilipino-American Culture Night Coordinator (2008-2009) of USC Troy Philippines, Secretary (2008-2009) of USC Circle K, member of Delta Omicron Zeta leadership fraternity
What does it mean to you to be an APA Leader?:
It’s such a difficult thing to define, but I think that an APA Leader offers him or herself up to the APA community as a source of vision and inspiration; as a keystone of collaboration and communication; as an advocate and representative for APAs everywhere; and as a teacher and a role model.
What advice would you give to others who aspire to be leaders for the APA community?:
I would encourage anyone who wants to be an APA Leader to be imaginative and to not be afraid to try new things. I think that the work of a leader is much more fulfilling when that leader works to aid his followers as much possible, rather than the other way around. I would also urge them to remember that being a leader is much more often a burden rather than a privilege, but it is a burden that a good, strong leader should be proud and excited to shoulder.
James Hwang
Year: 2011
Major/Minor: Business
Hometown: Honolulu, HI
Favorite Thing About USC: Chanos
Involvements at USC: Liberty in North Korea (LiNK), Gamma Epsilon Omega, Asian Greek Council, Marshall Finance Student Council, Trojan Investing Society, Undergraduate Student Investment Fund, Global Leadership Program
What does it mean to you to be an APA Leader?:
Making a difference in your community/organization while maintaining strong ties to the people, history and culture that make you who you are
What advice would you give to others who aspire to be leaders for the APA community?:
Remember your roots in everything you do
Jason Duong
Year: 2011
Major/Minor: BS/BA, Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Studies, Spanish
Hometown: Oxnard, CA
Favorite Thing About USC: The tremendously spirited and connected Trojan Family.
Involvements at USC: USC VSA, Program Board – Political Student Assembly, USC Red Cross, HapaSC, JEP, HIV Prevention Research
What does it mean to you to be an APA Leader?:
Being an APA leader means that, not only are you a student, but you are an agent for change in the APA community at USC, the USC community as a whole, and even perhaps an agent for change well beyond the confines of our campus gates. But the term “agent for change” is intentionally vague, as it spans the gamut of socio-cultural development, from promulgating petitions to effect policy change in our community, to working for months on end to put on a culture night that speaks to the universality of the human condition, to even coaching high school students on life and the college process. This is what an APA leader is all about – helping communities, opening minds, and ultimately, changing the world.
What advice would you give to others who aspire to be leaders for the APA community?:
For me, my primary motivator was finding and assembling my identity here at ‘SC. But it was overcoming my own self-doubt that really allowed me to fully engage the APA and campus communities. My best advice would be evoking the clever and tremendously versatile cliché of a gentleman named Nike and say: “Just do it.” Disregard your insecurities and conquer your anxieties, because the only person holding you back is you. As a USC student, you’ve already demonstrated your potential to be great. Explore all USC has to offer to cater to any and every part of your identity (racial, social, political, academic, etc.), take the potential that you’ve already got, and make the best of it. Just… do it. You’ll thank yourself later – so will APASA, Campus Activities, and other awesome campus organizations & departments. Fight on!
Nimisha Thakore
Year: 2011
Major/Minor: B.A. in Broadcast and Digital Journalism, minor in International Relations
Hometown: Flower Mound, TX
Favorite Thing About USC: Just one thing?! I’d have to say the passion and pride. USC is brimming with so many passionate, inspiring people! I feel so lucky to have met even a few of them. I can also say now that I’ve graduated and met plenty of graduates from other schools here in Dallas that the pride we have for our university is much more intense than the pride others have for their schools. If everybody loves a place so much, it must be wonderful, right? That’s USC. Contrary to popular belief, Disneyland is not that Happiest Place on Earth — that’s the University of Southern California! I miss it every day.
Involvements at USC: I dabbled in a lot of activities in my 4 years there, but a few that were more ongoing were: reporter/anchor for Annenberg TV News, editor-in-chief of Bamboo Offshoot, USC’s only Asian Pacific American publication, employee at Asian Pacific American Student Services, and member of Delta Omicron Zeta, USC’s premiere co-ed leadership fraternity
What does it mean to you to be an APA Leader?:
I think it means being proud and humble all at the same time. I always appreciated and have been proud of my Indian culture and heritage, but it wasn’t until I came to USC and stumbled into my job at APASS that I truly began to recognize that I am one Indian American in a community of Indian Americans, in a community of Asian Pacific Americans, in a community of people of color.
So the pride was always there, but that humble recognition that my community is so much larger than I thought was key for me. The Asian Pacific American community is a very diverse one, and it takes a very open-minded leader to learn about all those different cultures and see how even those differences can tie us together. Maybe I am considered an APA leader on campus, but I learned so, so much from a great many other incredible APA leaders at USC who come from all kinds of backgrounds: Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Thai, Vietnamese, you name it.
To me, it also means what I said in my last editor’s note for Bamboo Offshoot before I graduated: the ability to celebrate not just where we come from and what we have done but what we are doing and where we are going. This movement, this APA movement we’re part of, it’s progressive. It’s a living, breathing thing that’s always growing and evolving. A progressive movement needs progressive leaders!
What advice would you give to others who aspire to be leaders for the APA community?:
Meet a lot of other APA leaders (APASS plug: join Connections! or PEER to meet APA leaders in the community and on campus)! Figure out why being a leader for their community matters to them. I say this is both a journalism major and someone who was lucky enough to fall into the APA community at USC: everybody has a story to tell — they just need someone to listen. Be that listener. Hear their stories, spread their stories, and tell your own, with pride and passion. They’re all worth telling, trust me.
Also, find your strength and use it to help you as a leader in the APA community. I wish I had figured out sooner that I wanted to do this through journalism — I knew it, sort of, all 4 years at USC, but I didn’t begin to take full advantage of my strengths as a storyteller until senior year, when I sort of appointed myself editor-in-chief of Bamboo Offshoot. Once you know your strengths and how you can use them, recruit others passionate about the cause who can fill in the gaps with their own, different strengths.
Pamela Ho
Year: Senior (Class of 2012)
Major/Minor: Accounting
Hometown: Honolulu, HI
Favorite Thing About USC: The energy on campus
Involvements at USC: USC Hawai’i Club, Beta Alpha Psi, Marshall Student Ambassadors, Asian American Tutorial Project
What does it mean to you to be an APA Leader?:
It means a lot to have the opportunity to make a difference and be a voice in the APA community. I love being able to share a unique culture, offer my experiences and opinions, and help others feel welcome in the USC/APA/Hawai’i communities. My favorite part of serving as an APA leader has been meeting new people; it has been such a privilege to meet so many amazing individuals through my involvement as an APA leader.
What advice would you give to others who aspire to be leaders for the APA community?:
If you have a vision/goal/dream, go for it, and put your whole heart and effort into it. Although it will take a lot of hard work and the responsibilities may seem overwhelming at times, remember that your dedication will make a difference for others and that you, too, gain so much from the experience.
Serena Au
Year: 1st year grad student / undergraduate senior (B.A. to M.A. degree)
Major/Minor: M.A. Occupational Therapy / B.A. Psychology, B.S. Occupational Therapy
Hometown: Tacoma, WA
Favorite Thing About USC: I absolutely love being in Los Angeles and enjoying life in such a big and vibrant city.
Involvements at USC: President of Youth Exploring Passion (mentoring program for local pregnant and parenting teen women), 2010-2011 Rainbow Floor Residential Advisor, 2011-2012 Webb Tower Residential Advisor, Associated Trustee and Presidential Scholars member, Joint Educational Project, USC Housing student worker at Fluor Tower
What does it mean to you to be an APA Leader?:
I think being a leader in the APA community means first and foremost representing yourself and your free spirit in everything that you do. For me, being a leader is all about bringing the right attitude, open mind, and creative energy into your work. If you find something you’re passionate about, explore it. If you can bring your culture, background, upbringing, or anything about yourself that is intimately your own to offer to the table, that helps. Living life as a constant learner and constant student helps encourage others to do the same. I think that specifically being an APA leader means that I am always willing to support members of my community and am willing and eager to represent this community in my work and everyday life.
What advice would you give to others who aspire to be leaders for the APA community?:
Find something you love to do and keep doing it! I think sometimes people believe that being a leader means taking on executive board positions or studying so hard for tests to get the best grade, but really I think the leaders that I have always looked up to most are the people who embodied their personal passions in their everyday lives — people who have embraced their unique interests and quirks and stayed true to themselves. They weren’t necessarily the loudest people or the people with the most extracurricular activities or best grades but the people who strove to live organic, happy lives full of service to others. I encourage other students to be leaders for the APA community by remembering to have pride for our heritage and above all to be wholesome people who set an example for others by living well and living for others.
