APYLP Leadership Conference-->SACTOWN

20th ANNIVERSARY OF APYLP
MARCH 25-28,2010

You can't be only a API leader, you gotta be a leader period.

-Justice Tani Sakauye

Everyone is asking me how my Sacramento trip went. I always say "It was great!" and ended it just like that! haha. That's because I don't know where to start! I don't know how to summarize everything we did because we did SO MUCH! Well here you go, I have it in DETAIL. =)

I previously thought going to Sacramento was cool because I have never been there. Plus, it would be a good break for me from home. When I got there, everything turned out totally different then what I expected.

There were many Asian Americans and Filipino Americans that attended the conference. I didn't feel alone until I met a Samoan attendee named Deja Ofisa. =). I was happy to see another Tongan who was an adviser there. Shout out to ELLA WOLFGRAMM! We were the only Polynesians there to represent and I know we did a great job putting it down!

-->Deja Ofisa and I

The first day seemed the longest. All the attendees were separated into groups with their adviser.

My adviser was BEVERLY NG. My group was made up of 6 girls and we had our own name! Shout out to BEVERLY and my SiNGLE LADiES! haha.


-->Angela Dinh and Beverly Ng

After all the mingling, we had a speaker come and speak with us. We had Mona Pasquil, the Acting Lieutenant Governor of CA, tell us about her struggles in life and how she got to where she is today. She's the first Asian and first Filipino-American Lieutenant Governor of CA! More power to her because she's a woman! haha.

We had a workshop where we were divided into two rooms and we had to learn how to play a game by reading the directions in 5 minutes. Yes, stressful! The advisors didn't even want to help us! That's the point of being a leader though.

Leaders take risks.

Both rooms had a different game and at the end of our game, we had to discuss what we learned from playing. It was crazy because behind all the weirdness of each game, they symbolized how it is for us minorities, immigrants, and colored in the American society today. I learned our society today is about

survival of the fittest.

You have to learn how to adapt and keep up with the pace of the society you're living in.


-->us in front of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's room.

Friday.
We had more speakers like Hon. Evan Low (Mayor of the City of Campbell), Walter Wolfgramm, Hon. Mariko Yamada (Assembly member, 8th District) and Justice Tani Cantil Sakauye. Evan Low is 26 years old and he's already a mayor! He started out going to community college and went from their to Harvard. Walter Wolfgramm was my favorite because I connected to his stories about Tonga. He told a story about the octopus and mouse which is sort of a myth in Tonga. He brought some BOMB octopus(feke) cooked with breadfruit(mei). I quote Hon. Mariko Yamada because I see that we all go through this with the American values & our own cultured values.

"One challenge I face everyday is I try not to let the institution change me, but I change the institution."

We should make the difference! She says that her priorities of working with social issues are healthcare and education. Two thumbs up! Those are the two things all communities need to work with!



By this time, we were already in the State Capitol Building! Our advisers ran a Mock Legislature where they wanted to pass a bill as Lady Gaga, California's state rocker! haha. From what I observed, it was something like a trial where the judge ran the case and the lawyers and defendant fought for their claims. They did this because we, the attendees, were going to do the same thing on Saturday. We were expected to have partners to work with to try and pass a bill. I thought they were crazy because I had no experience with politics. We were scheduled to have our own Mock Legislature and we had the chance to vote for our own pro tempore and chair of the committee.



Saturday.
I ran for pro tempore and it was the scariest thing ever because it was something spontaneous. I had to stand up in front of the whole conference and make a speech of why I the Senators should vote for me. Note that I am SCARED of public speaking. I didn't win the election, but it was worth the try. =).

-->the advisers mock legislature

The bill I was trying to pass was SB7 Bilingual Education. My partner was Trina Douangphachanh. With work lunch and studying our papers in the bus, we pulled our case together and presented it in the committee. We had two lobbyists, one who was for our bill and one who fought against it. We were fighting for English classes for English learners to be at least 3 years. The senators on the board asked how do we expect to pay for these programs when we are in a recession and there are a lot of budget cuts. We replied that we would work with grants and scholarships and invest in all this, so when these English learners become efficient in the society, they can work and give back to the economy. I learned that studies show that when English learners do learn English, they actually perform academically better then native English speakers in their age group. With hard work and a smart mouth, Trina and I PASSED THE BILL in the committee with a 9-3 vote! We got the majority "aye" votes!


-->our committee group [the ppl I had to argue with to pass my bill. haha.]

Later, we had to take the bill to the Senate floor. We went on the ACTUAL SENATE FLOOR! I sat on a senators desk and everything! Our bill was the last one to be presented and with the same case, we officially had our bill passed! Okay, this was a mock legislature, it wasn't the real thing. I wish it really did pass as our law because I know how it is for English learners to come to America and not know how to speak English, judging from my experience with my people from Tonga.

We had a fun night to celebrate our hard work. We had a dance/dinner and a API Idol with karaoke singing!

Sunday.
We had our closing workshops. Ella Wolfgramm hosted our last workshop where we had to share our experiences there at the conference. She had a presentation of our Tongan values. I realized things I have never realized before, even in my own culture.

-->my friend PAWARISA FUNG

CONCLUSION.
This conference had me working!!! It was great though! I learned to step out of my comfort zone and I made a LOT of new friends! I communicated efficiently with other ethnicities and mastered my skills in public speaking! I came out of my shell! haha. I also developed leadership skills that I can bring home and use in my community work. All these inspirational guest speakers left me with something that I can think of as I go through college and LIFE. There is discrimination everywhere for minorities and colored, but it shouldn't stop us from moving forward.