I'm so glad you asked! I completely understand what you mean about the Asian organizations on campus - they're all a great way to meet people and get involved, but alot of them are composed of very die-hard "Asian" Asian-Americans that don't really expand much outside of that network (I should know, I'm in quite a few!) - not that that's necessarily a bad thing!
The Asian American Cultural Center is a completely different sanction of Student Life though, and through this department you can actually access alot of incredible opportunities to meet people from ALL OVER the Rutgers University, not just the Asian American population. It has great connects to the other cultural centers, the CAPS office, other Student Life divisions and TONS of faculty, administrators, and student leaders that can help you find where you're most comfortable and happy. Rutgers is SUCH a huge school, and there's such a huge emphasis on Student Life, you'll be hard-pressed to find an area of student interest that's not covered!
Having such a diverse background like yours is such a blessing, because you can explore the different facets of your ethnicities and cultural history, and even current social issues people of color ALL experience today. The great thing that I've experienced while working at the AACC is that alot of the social and political issues we discuss as a community reaches so much further than the confines of the label "Chinese-American" or "Korean-American", but as a collective minority student population. Even by joining Asian Student Council, you'll be able to meet representatives from the Latino Student Council or the United Black Council or even the RUSA assembly, giving you great networks that expand way, way past just the "Asian" niche.
For you, I think the key balance is to figure out how to explore that Asian American side of you without being caught up with the "Asian label", as you put it haha. For me personally, I don't think there's anything wrong with being Asian-American -along with everything else you are! I take great pride in being a Chinese AMERICAN, and while I've found other opportunities to expand my network past the Asian community (namely, through the AACC and my sorority), just visiting the AACC can open alot of doors for you to meet and get involved with the AACC.
That was a really long rant, but the bottom line of action I would recommend you would be to:
1. Come to the AACC and talk to any of the Interns (myself included, if I'm still around next year HEH HEH) and/or JI LEE, the director of the AACC and quite a lady. Ji's the perfect person to hook you up to the AACC, as she's the resident boss lady and does EVERYTHING on campus! She knows EVERYTHING... lol. Also, the interns have alot of great connects too, and having been involved with the Center for at least a year or two, they'll be able to give great advice for what the next step for you to get involved would be.
2. Check out the Junior Internship program! It's a wonderful way to get involved with the Center and meet all sorts of people - student leaders, faculty, deans, administrators; PEOPLE who shake things up at Rutgers and make an impact. There is an application process, but don't be afraid to ask about it and see if it'll be something you're interested in! It was one of the most rewarding programs I'd ever experienced (and that's saying alot, I've been through alot!) and DEFINITELY worth at least checking out!
If you've got any additional questions and don't mind emailing me, hollur at fayemao89@gmail.com
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Hey I'm interested in AACC but I'm a huge mix of ethnicities and it seems Asian orgs at Rutgers are intimidating if you aren't all about Asian life. How would i go about getting around to the AACC but still keeping my identity outside of the Asian label.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
so if you don't mind me asking, what colleges did you apply and get into? :D
oooh boy... that was a long time ago! but lets see, off the top of my head, I was... accepted into College of William and Mary, waitlisted at Tufts and Northwestern (but was later accepted into Northwestern -___-), and deferred from UChicago. I don't think I was denied admissions anywhere, but no one wanted me first round either =( But to be quite honest, I was accepted early into Rutgers, and I pretty much gave up on some of my applications after that point... I think I always knew I would end up at Rutgers. Ironically, I didn't apply to any of the Ivy Leagues, or even NYU for that matter, because
1. I knew my family wouldn't be able to afford it (my dad made it very clear that I would be eventually footing the bill), and
2. A whole slew of the same AP kids I went to high school with were applying to those schools, and I wasn't excited about the prospects of going to COLLEGE with half of them - having competed with them throughout all of high school, I'd had enough of proving myself to other people, and didn't want college to be a continuation of that.
I'll admit, Rutgers was definitely not my first choice - I was looking for the textbook example of the quaint, academically-oriented private college with my small circle of equally nerdy friends. But what I found here at Rutgers is worth so much more than I think that could've ever given me - it gave me a chance to explore who I was beyond the books and the competition, to see what I was capable of. I found a HUGE network, an incredible set of friends and sisters I know I could always trust and fall back on, and I found a new perspective to look at myself and the people around me and the world I live in.
Sometimes I see the friends from my hometown that have gone on to attend the "desired" schools, and not changed or grown one bit. They still rely on each other as their main source of friendship, ever tied to their high school days and ways and perspectives. And while I still keep ties to them and join them whenever I can, I can't help but think what would've happened if I had joined them at their schools. Would I have been as inextricably tied and unwilling to push myself forward? Would I have been the same as I used to be, just a passive observer of the action that I wanted to partake in? (no dirty innuendos intended!) Or would I have found my way out of the shell of what I used to be, all the same?
HOLY CRAP that was a friggin essay LOL. Sorry if I went way past what your expectations were of this answer. But I tend to wax philosophical around this time of the year...
