Monthly Archives: August 2014

• Reflections on My AALEAD Summer

  By Laura Ma, DC Elementary School Program Intern Photos Courtesy of AALEAD Staff My seven week internship with Asian American LEAD's (AALEAD) Elementary  School Program has been - to put it frankly - awesome. Although the time was short, I felt comfortable very quickly with all of the staff, teachers, and kids. I was hopeful about this internship when I left my semester of study in Shanghai not only because I would be able to continue using my Chinese, but also because I would be able to inter

• Reflections on My MAC Summer

  By Bhadon Shalakin, Mentoring Program Intern Photo Courtesy of Tina Ngo, AALEAD Staff Hello, it's me, Bhadon. This will be my last official blog as an Asian American LEAD (AALEAD) Mentoring and Volunteer Program Intern. I truly have had the best summer in a long time thanks to AALEAD. I started off the summer hopeful, but was still nervous about working with students in such a new capacity. However, as the summer progressed, so did I. Each workshop I led helped build more confidence in myself.

• Gratitude & Reflections on Summer Kinect

  By David Ma, MD Program Intern Photos Courtesy of AALEAD Staff & Students The past 6 weeks have been a really memorable experience for me. Although I've participated in Asian American LEAD (AALEAD) summer programs for the previous two years as a high school student leader, I've never seen the programming through the eyes of a staff member before. No one really expects it, but there is a lot of work being done behind the scenes, especially with the paper work.  Now that I think back on all

• AALEAD MAC: A Fun Finale!

  By Bhadon Shalakin, Mentoring Program Intern Photos Courtesy of Tina Ngo, AALEAD Staff

  Two weeks ago, the Asian American LEAD (AALEAD) Mentoring Advisory Council (MAC) students celebrated the end of the summer program by joining the elementary school students at Six Flags! Everyone was excited for this day after weeks of hard work. Our trip began with a bus ride, which was spent getting to know each other further through the game 20 Questions. We were asked our favorite movies and w

• DC Elementary School Program Final Week!

  By Laura Ma, DC Elementary School Program Intern Photo Courtesy of AALEAD Staff To wrap up our blog posts for the final week of our amazing summer program, I have interviewed both members of the staff and students to get their take on their summer with Asian American LEAD (AALEAD). It has certainly been a busy five weeks for staff and students alike, so let's see what they had to say about our field trips, workshops, and the summer as a whole! Intervie

• My Meeting with Mayor Gray!

  By Bhadon Shalakin, Mentoring Program Intern Photo Courtesy of DC Office on Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs (OAPIA)

  Last week, Surjeet Ahluwalia, Asian American LEAD's (AALEAD) Executive Director, and I met with Vincent Gray, Washington DC's Mayor. I previously asked President Obama his opinion on DC statehood, and the exchange was featured in the press with dozens of articles and broadcasts. Our meeting came about through the increased publicity of DC statehood and with the help