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 of my experiences with AALEAD, I’m so thankful for everything that the staff has done for the students. So, I guess it is better late than never: thank you staff for all that you’ve done for us.

My internship experience this summer was mind-blowing with the amount of students and the area of space we had to use. I’m glad that all of the students had 6 weeks to bond with other youth and staff, though I do wish the program could last longer. It felt like the program just started yesterday and I had just begun to adapt to being a good intern; just like that, as soon as I got the hang of everything, the program ended. I will truly miss everyone, especially our MD Programs Manager and my former High School Program Coordinator, Francine Gorres. It is because of her that I’m not shy to share my poetic talents and that I continue to grow as a leader every day. AALEAD will always be my second family, so this is my farewell, but not goodbye.

**Read additional Summer 2014 Interns’ reflections here: Alex, Bhadon, Heein, and Laura!**