It was a life learning experience for American Samoa Community College (ASCC) student Miss Vaimalu Vaiau.
The 24,-year-old Vice President of the ASCC Alpha Epsilon Mu Chapter of the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, spent 10 weeks in D.C. as an intern with the organization Asian American Pacific Advocates.
When people inquire as to how my internship went, I say ‘amazing,’” says Vaimalu “but that word alone is not adequate enough to describe my 10-week experience.”
Her internship was with the National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development, where she worked on a series of projects and tasks.
Her tasks included updating the membership roster to facilitating meetings, conducting webinars, and coordinating events.
“There were many highlights of my internship,” she recalled.
One was attending the Asian Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund Higher Education Summit (APIASF)
Vaimalu says she reached out to the other American Samoan Intern from ASCC, Liu Lafaele, and invited him to attend the summit.
They connected with the ASCC Dean of Student Services Dr. Emilia Le’i, who was also attending the summit.
They were able to network with the various panelists in attendance along with several other leaders in the Pacific Islander community such as the Chief Operating Officer of EPIC (Empowering Pacific Islander Communities), Alisi Tulua.
Another highlight was Advocacy Day in which the interns were split up into groups with the objective of choosing an issue they felt was important enough to advocate for on Capitol Hill.
Vaimalu’s group chose to advocate for Data Disaggregation,”
“We went on Capitol Hill and met with Honorable Congressman Pete Aguilar of California’s 31st Congressional district and asked him to help push for data disaggregation in schools among the AAPI (Asian American Pacific Islander) communities in his district.”
On another occasion, the AAPA interns made the four-hour trip to Jersey City, New Jersey for the annual OCA National Convention.
“During the convention, there was a youth recognition luncheon in which the interns were called to the stage individually, announcing our name, home state, and school,” Miss Vaiau recalled, “and when people heard I was from American Samoa, they expressed their strong approval at seeing a Pacific Islander being part of the intern program.
“At the awards gala, I networked with Judge Michael Kwan from Utah who came to American Samoa last October to talk about citizenship rights.”
Effective networking also led to Miss Vaiau receiving an invitation to the welcoming ceremony for the Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Hsien Loong, and his wife Mrs. Lee Hsien Loong hosted by the President and First Lady held on the South lawn of the White House.
