Left to Right: Chris Vo, Kevin Dao, Victoria Yu, Craig
Byll, Peter Limthongviratn, Schyler D'Souza
MAASU Steps Out of Midwest to Broaden Perspectives
By: Daphne Yu, MAASU Communications Chair
On July 11, six MAASU ECC board members
left from Chicago and found themselves
surrounded by the hustle and bustle of life in
Washington D.C. For some, the unique mishmash of architectural styles was the tell-tale sign
they were in the nation's capital. For others, it
was the opportunities the political mecca offered.
"I felt like we were 'in D.C.' when we went to
the department of labor," programming chair
Kevin Dao said. "The networking opportunities
from talking to government officials and staffers
are what I imagined it would be like in D.C."
Dao and his co-chair Schyler D'Souza were
selected to attend the 2014 East Coast Asian
American Students Union (ECAASU) Youth
Leadership Week with the hopes that they would
be connecting and branching out when it comes
to programming ideas for the upcoming year.
The other positions chosen to attend included
Advocacy chairs Craig Byll and Peter
Limthongviratn, Public Relations chair Chris Vo
and MAASU Chairwoman Victoria Yu.
Throughout the week, the six mid-westerners mixed
and mingled with members of the ECAASU and
attended discussions and presentations on a variety of
APIA-related issues including education, arts and
culture, health, law and policy. Fighting through the
humidity and stormy weather, the team attended events
located in the Department of Labor to Capitol Hill to
the White House.
While the experience was demanding both physically
and mentally, advocacy chair Craig Byll, who is a
returning member of the ECC and had visited D.C. last
summer, knew beforehand how stressful it would be.
｢ The toughest matter of the trip
was keeping energy constant.
You always have to come in
with your game face on, or
you’ll miss so many fleeting
opportunities.
｣