What are your main responsibilities at your position? What are some of your big projects? (this can include projects at your internship, your specific CAP project, etc)
As a property management intern at USDA APHIS Marketing and Regulatory Business Services, my main responsibilities will be the managing of electronic filings, data analysis and biennial inventory filing review. My CAP project is with APIA Vote Michigan and our project consists of collecting data on the priorities and living conditions potential APIA voters.
How does this internship fit with your professional and career goals?
As an aspiring lawyer, I believe that my time at the USDA will instill an attention to detail that I believe will greatly assist me in my legal career moving forward. Apart from my career goals, I look forward to doing whatever I can to increase the representation of the AANHPI community within the public sector.
What do you hope to achieve this summer as a part of CAPAL’s 2022 cohort?
I am looking forward to collaborating with my fellow aspiring AANHPI leaders. During the program, I am hopeful that I can gain more insight into the spirit of public service from their examples. Moreover, with such a diverse cohort claiming heritage from all around the world, I am eager to step out of my bubble and learn more about the broader AANHIPI community.
What does public service mean to you? What sparked your interest or desire to get involved with public service?
I personally believe that public service means using one’s position of privilege and paying it forward. I am a big believer in the virtue of selfless leadership that was propagated by the founding fathers and those like Cicero, from whom they drew inspiration. My interest in public service was sparked by witnessing, firsthand, the struggle and sacrifice my family and those around us had to endure in order to even attempt to actualize the ideal of the ‘American Dream’ they were sold. Their collective journeys and hardships inspired me to commit to a life of ensuring that communities like ours need not suffer in silence and that an equal opportunity at a dignified life would not be an aspiration but a guarantee.