Keeping Connected

AASucess's Corner:

I remember seeing my 2 year old daughter encounter snow for the first time. She was surprisingly overwhelmed, touching the fluffy snow with joy and care—and this kind of “rain” seemed to amaze her, and yet at the time I was immune to the effect of the snowfall. Perhaps with the passage of time, I have awareness of snow, which my daughter did not have. Speaking of awareness, below are AASuccess announcements and updates:

December 15, 2007: AASuccess Wine Tasting Benefit Event at Lac Viet Gallery (http://www.lacvietgallery.com/). All Proceeds go toward the 2008 AASuccess Scholarship/Grant Fund

AASuccess would like to recognize following student members and professional friends who have come together to lead, partner, prepare and/or contribute their time and energy to make this event possible:

Mai Nguyen, Bao Nguyen, Irina Nguyen, Tam Tran, Iang Dang, Diane Nguyen, Mimi Luu, Trang Nguyen, Albert Yang, Minh Ha Do, Phana Yuth, Elizabeth Do, Amy Tran, Khanh-Mi Nguyen, Phuong Nguyen, Monique Huynh, Nam Nguyen, Michael Nguyen, Nguyen Nguyen, Khoa Tran, Kim Nguyen, Vivian Ho, Patrick Tran, An Nguyen, NgocVee Vu.

AASuccess would also like to express our deepest thanks and appreciations to the following professional friends who have made generous donations including in-kind donations prior the event:

• 
  Ms. Sylvia Le, owner of http://www.aceprod.com/, distributor of Toner and Ink Cartridges for Laser & Inkjet Printer, FAX and Copier. Ms. Sylvia Le is currently the Chief Financing Officer of the World Health Ambassador Program (WHA).
• Ms. My-Lac Hoang (My-Hope)
  Mr. Loc Tran and Ms. Lan Tran (DDS).
  Mr. Greg Welty of ReMax/Welty. Mr.Welty also has kindly sponsored a long-term paid internship program reserved exclusively for AASuccess Student Members.
  Mr. David Montanari (AAS Board).
  Ms. Jean Witz, PhD & J.D., USPTO.
  Mr. Ian Dang, PhD, USPTO.
  Ms Irina Nguyen (AAS Board).
• Ms. Mimi Luu (AAS Board)
  Mr. James Henry Alstrum (AAS Board).
  Mr. James Do, Fairfax County Government.
• Ms. Hanh Nguyen (Defense Department)
• 
  Mr. Tam Tran. Violist Tam Tran is an active soloist, chamber musician, and music educator and is a regular performer at the White House as a member of the “President’s Own” U.S. Marine White House Orchestra. Violist Tam Tran will be featured at the Wine Tasting Event.
• 
  Ms. Diana Fish, cellist, came to Washington, DC in 1994 to be a member ofthe Chamber Orchestra of "The President's Own" United States MarineBand. She graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music where shestudied with Orlando Cole. Cellist Diana Fish will be featured at the Wine Tasting Event.
• 
  Ms. Diane Nguyen, RN.
• Ms. Phuong Nguyen (WHA)
  Ms Mimi Luu’s Parents.
  Student Khanh Mi Nguyen’s Parents.
  Student Minh Ha Do’s Parents.
  Mr. Dave Nguyen’s Parents.
• Ms. Terresa Dang (wine server)
• Ms. Melissa Chern (wine server)

Once again, both the student and professionals at AAS thank you for your generosity.

Sincerely,
The Asian American Success Team
----------------------------------------------

1/19/2008: The University & You: Third Annual Conference for Asian American and Minority High School Students
This invite is to send out a call for our January 19th College Preparation Seminar: The University and You Conference for Asian American and minority High School Students. The Conference is scheduled for Saturday, January 19th, 2008 at the George Washington University Marvin Center, 800 21st NW in Washington, DC 20052. Our Conference will consist of the following sessions: Leadership, Financial Aid, College Life, Identity, College Discussion Panel, College Fair, and Career Fair. We will be needing you, talented students to spread the word! Tell you brothers and sisters and their friends who are still in High School. It's a one-day conference for free AND we serve lunch (yes, volunteers and facilitators and panelists get fed by GWU catering as well!) Thank you all and have a great night! If you have any questions, don't hesitate to email Christina at cwadhwan@gmail.com or Dave at dave.nguyen@aasuccess.org THANKS! - Christina Wadhwani=) GW VSA and AASuccess



A Letter of Acknowledgement from the Vietnam Medical Assistance Program (VNMAP)

Dear AAS Board and Student Council,I am writing this letter on the behalf of the Viet Nam Medical Assistance Program (VNMAP)'s Board to express our appreciation for the support of the AAS's board and council members in helping us choose a highly qualified AAS member to be in our mission team 2008.This year, we had a number of applicants that applied to our program both as professional students and volunteers. After carefully considering of our applicants, we have selected 8 medical students and 4 volunteers to be in the 2008 medical mission team. Bao Nguyen from AASucess has been selected to be one of our volunteers. From his application, he impressed us with his strong commitment, a driving will to help the people in Vietnam, and a great attitude to learn about the culture as well as the medical relief work. Thus, we- the VNMAP Board- would like to share our congratulation to Bao Nguyen with the AAS Board and Student Council.Thanks for your trust and support. We hope to have your continuous support to VNMAP and Bao Nguyen. Speaking on my own behalf as an AASuccess member, I strongly believe that the mentorship and support from AAS family to an active member such as Bao Nguyen will help him soon become a new great leader in our community.

Best regards,
VNMAP- Program Coordinator
Nguyen Nguyen


Collaboration between AASuccess and Fairfax County in assisting our elders to prepare the Tax Forms in 2008

At least 10 student members under the guidance of Mr. Song Park (AASuccess Board) and Mr. James Do (Fairfax County) will undergo a certified tax preparation training sometime in January of 2008. Once certified, the students will be able to schedule their own time to assist Fairfax County to help Asian American elders to prepare the tax forms during the tax season.


4/9/2007-6/08 - APPLY FOR THE AASUCCESS COMMUNITY SERVICE SCHOLARSHIP
The Asian American Success is offering a new scholarship opportunity to recognize outstanding community leadership in young people and help students reach their academic goals. Up to 4 $500 and 1 $1000 scholarships/awards are awarded to students annually through the new AASuccess Community Service Scholarship Program. Stay tuned for more information.


An inspiring message from Dr. Duc Le, a medical physician who has been active in the “Ask A Physician” student program offered via AASuccess.

Congratulations to Mr. Ca Tran, President of Viet Nam Assistance for the Handicapped (VNAH), who was the only Non-Japanese out of 30 receiving the recent humanitarian award presided by the Japanese Emperor and Empress in Japan.

For more information about VNAH, please visit its website at http://www.vnah-hev.org/

-----------------------------------------------------------

AAS 2007 Account Balance Sheet (revised as of 11/2007).
This balance sheet does not include expenditures for the wine tasting event and the upcoming University and You Conference for Asian American and Minority Students to be held at GW University on 1/19/2008.

Click on this link: http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pRHeLDNa9DviJthOrm0-KeA

Be thankful, then be full

What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving?

I know i'm thankful for my friends, family, and God for accepting me as who I am.

This is a test

Upcoming Events

AASuccess TRAINING PROGRAM on
"Student Success Leadership Focus Session: Debate, Learn and Apply"

Where: Kenmore Middle School, Room 190
When: Sunday, November 18, 2007, 10:30-12:15 PM
Registration is required/members only, email aasteam@aasuccess.org
Format: Debate, Focus Session
Who: Ian Dang, Guest Speaker


Would you like to motivate and inspire your student members and so they can lead and help you lead others?

Would you like to lead, learn, and live more responsibly as a successful individual?

As a project lead, you may already know what to do and how to lead…but you will eventually flounder and get frustrated because of the lack of followers, and if you 're either doing the right things for wrong reasons or the wrong things for the right reasons. We 're talking about purpose here. Your roadmap to SUCCESS and the "WHY" behind effective leadership. In this session, you will learn how to:
Become a better project leader
Achieve a successful project from ideas and concepts for a project
Find motivation and energy in order to lead a project
Define your team's goal for the project
Prepare and plan tasks for each member of the team
Understand the incentives for the contribution for each member of your team
Get each team member working in the same direction
Enhance collaboration among members of your team
Unleash the power of teamwork in order to accomplish a winning project

Ian D. Dang, PhD, was born in Lyon, France and immigrated in to the US in the late 80's. Ian Received his Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Davidson College and a Doctorate in Neurobiology from Loyola University Chicago. After obtaining his PhD, he continued his scientific training as a Post-doctoral Fellow at The Scripps Research Institute. While Ian has spent numerous hours studying, Ian has also been involved with numerous sports. He scored numerous touchdowns as a runningback for his high school football team and made several game saving tackles as a member of the rugby team in college. Since his college years, Ian has been an avid runner and has been fortunate to complete the 26.2 mile journey of the Chicago marathon. Although Ian has lived for more than 20 years in the US and has embraced American values, Ian is still proud to retain his Vietnamese and French heritage. He enjoys the delicate texture of foie gras as well as the strong taste of Vietnamese crepes bathed in fish sauce. Ian would to share his experience to help train tomorrow's Asian leaders through Aasuccess.

---------------------------------------------------------

December 15, 2007: Wine Tasting/Musical Performances/Art Gallery

Where: 5719 Lee Hwy, Arlington, VA 22207
Time: 4:00 PM- 8:30 PM
How can you help us: Email aasteam@aasuccess.org for more information
Why:

Providing a venue for networking and having our friends and supporters to get to know AASuccess at a personal level such as meeting board members, student council members, and those professionals who have been investing their time into our AASuccess Leadership Program;
Providing a venue where we as the hosts could introduce our guests from different organizations and circle of friends to one another as networking resources;
Providing a venue to celebrate our holiday season with a wine tasting program couple with our musical performances led by both professionals and students.

The musical peformances feature Mr. Tam Tran, viola- A frequent performer at the White House as a member of the "President's Own" White House Chamber Orchestra. Tam has performed at the Kennedy Center, performed in chamber music concerts with members of the Emerson String Quartet, Ani Kavafian, and Colin Carr, and has also performed on NPR's "Performance Today." Prior to his recent appointment with the "President's Own", Tam pursued doctoral studies at SUNY-Stony Brook where he was the viola teaching assistant and student of Lawrence Dutton of the Emerson String Quartet.

---------------------------------
Thanksgiving Project's Update:

Message from Julie Keddel, Project Lead from AASuccess:

Currently I am coordinating a Thanksgiving Project which deals with giving back to the community by raising donations for the homeless children and their families this upcoming holiday. We are raising donations to give to the Shelter House, Inc. ( www.shelterhouse.org). Through these donations, we are hoping to allow the children and families of the homeless shelter to have a wonderful holiday experience.
On November 10-11th, I helped take part in a fundraising event located in Eden Center. This was one of the ways that AAS helped raise donations for the homeless shelter. In the chilly weather, a group of around 12 AAS members and I worked diligently to raise around two hundred dollars. A local deli, Huong Binh Bakery and Deli, even generously donated $50 to our cause. Through this experience, I was able to get to know many of the AAS members, (since I am more of a newer member) and I have found that they are a hearty, willing group of volunteers.
I am excited to say that I, with a couple of volunteers, will present all donations we have raised through our efforts to the homeless shelter on the 21st. I would like to ask if you are willing to give a donation to help make the homeless shelter's families have a better Thanksgiving Holiday. Any amount will do; any donation will go a long way. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or are interested in donating. (julie.k@aasuccess.org)
Thank you very much,
Julie Keddell

--------------------------------------------

AASuccess Monthly

AASUCCESS is a Non Profit 501(3) (c) Organization
AASuccess would like to thank Jake Vu and Song Park so very much for helping us launch our non-profit organization. Your knowledge, professionalism, and expediency took the mystery out of incorporation and is a value without equal.

AASuccess TRAINING PROGRAM on "Student Success Leadership Focus Session: Debate, Learn and Apply"

Where: Kenmore Middle School
When: 10:30 AM - 12:15 PM, Sunday, November 18, 2007
What: Through this interactive process or focus sessions with games/activities and debates, you will learn new ways to influence, motivate, and build relationships. You will conquer problems and setbacks that would have inhibited others. And through debates and applying communication skills, you will learn how to create and inspire powerful teams.
How? Registration is required, send to aasteam@aasuccess.org, members only
Who: Guest Speaker/Instructor: Ian D. Dang, PhD, was born in Lyon, France and immigrated in to the US in the late 80's. Ian Received his Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Davidson College and a Doctorate in Neurobiology from Loyola University Chicago.

----------------------------------------

Thanksgiving-Making a difference in someone's life

Asian American Club from Jeb Stuart HS is collaborating with AASuccess in organizing this Thanksgiving Project Event. This is the time of the year that we would like to cherish joy and thankfullness. However, not everyone has ways or means to cherish many of things that we take for granted such as a nice meal or a place called "home". This is why this Thanksgivings Project means a lot to children who go to bed hungry during the holiday season. Your help and support to this Thanksgiving project would certainly made a diference in someone's life. Please help Julie Keddel in any way you can to make this project a memorable thing not only for us but also those children from the ShelterHouse ( www.shelterhouse.org). How can you help? Contact Julie Keddel at Julie.K@aasuccess.org and help her in any way you can, e.g. $2, $5, $10, $20, canned food etc. A simple email or note or an outreach effort in any way you can, no matter how small it is is considered a meaningful contribution. You could also join Julie's team to visit the ShelterHouse sometime (arranged by both Julie and the director of Shelterhouse) prior the Thanksgiving Day. Julie will be sending out a detailed plan soon.

-----------------------------------------
December 15, 2007-Wine Tasting/Holiday Celebration

(Please save the date)

Meeting Minutes (prepared by Mai Nguyen) can be obtained via this link:
http://docs.google.com/View?docid=df23bkj3_106cm4h5k

If you could lend a hand, please email aasteam@aasuccess.org
Any questions, email aasteam@aasuccess.org, Mai, Bao, Minh Ha, An, Me or Mimi.

2007 SECRET SANTA: Student & Professional Interaction

--------------------------------------------------

Message from Mai Nguyen, Falls Church High School Class of 2008, Student Council Member:

Tis the season to be jolly again. Since its November, I'm pretty sure a lot of you or at least a few of you have started to ponder about Christmas shopping. Well what about spending the seasonal time with your fellow AASuccess members? This year, I am organizing a secret santa event between the students and the professionals. Hopefully, this will bring the two groups to become more interactive with each other and maybe everyone will learn something new about the other one too. At our retreat in August, the professionals were supposed to become more involved with the students, but that hasn't happened too much since we're all busy with school and work. Therefore, this will be a great opportunity to spend time together as promised from the retreat :). The event will be on FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21ST in the evening, and the venue has not yet been chosen (however, if you're willing to volunteer your house, that will be greatly appreciated). You have to be able to ATTEND THE EVENT in order to participate. I will be using elfster.com to have everyone "draw names". Since I'm sure none of us can work our schedules out to meet up to draw names from a hat. Elfster has the ability for you to RSVP, receive a person (I have no control over if its a professional or student), create a wishlist, and ask your secret santa questions without having to reveal your identity. There will be a maximum of $20 spending limit since the students obviously do not have an income like the professionals ;D. If you want to be a part of secret santa, please reply to this (to ME only) and give me your email address. I will add your email address to the list, and I think you have to register to Elfster, which takes like 5 seconds anyways. The deadline to sign up will be SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 10TH which gives everyone one week to decide. Remember, we need both professionals and students to sign up in order for this to work.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear All,Hope you are all doing well. Student members of AASuccess have challenged professionals who may have been associated with AASuccess as donors, friends, supporters, collaborators, fans, and colleagues to participate in a "Secrete Santa" Event to be held on December 21st , 2007 a TBD place volunteered by any Santa in town. While i have no idea how it works, it sounds like a great fun to me, especially we rarely see high school/college students coming together to organize this event intended solely for both professionals and student members (see the attached email for details). I may have missed many friends and supporters, donors etc., so help me by forwarding the invite to those I may have missed. Please see the attached email for more information. I suppose that many of you may miss tomorrow 's deadline. Hopefully, Mai Nguyen, our student council member, will be able to pull her magic to readjust the "Secret Santa" accordingly.

On a different note, if you would like to enjoy a wine tasting experience with friends, family, and colleagues without a costly trip to wine country during our upcoming holiday season, please save December 15, 2007. The Event will also feature musical performances provided by Violist Staff Sergeant Tam Tran from the "The Presidents Own" United States Marine Band, and Student members of AASuccess's quartet and many more professional friends of AASuccess. The Wine Tasting Event will be organized by Dr. Ian Dang, Ms. Diane Nguyen and Ms. Mimi Luu. Refreshments will also be served. Please let us know if you would like to help us and student members to prepare for the event. Stay tuned for more information. As always, thank you for your continuous support and HAVE A GREAT HOLIDAY SEASON.

Regards,

/Dave/

Medical Mission 2008-Opportunity to our ASSuccess Student Members.

We have approved a project initiated by Nguyen Nguyen from Johns Hopkins University.
You must apply for the slot, and the application deadline is: NOVEMBER 15, 2007. Members only (>=18 years of age)
Once approved and selected by VNMAP/Nguyen, AASuccess will be working with the selected member for a fundraiser project to raise fund for your expense and airfare.

AAS 2007 Memorable Events

http://docs.google.com/TeamPresent?docid=df23bkj3_78g46nv7&skipauth=true

To achieve your dreams, remember your ABSs

Avoid negative sources, people, places, things and habits
Believe in yourself
consider things from every angle
Don't give up and don't give in
Enjoy life today, yesterday is gone and tomorrow may never come
Family and friends are hidden treasures, seek them and enjoy their riches
Give more than you planned to
Hang on to your dreams
Ignore those who try to discourage you
Just do it
Keep trying no matter how hard it seems, it will get easier
Love yourself first and most
Make it happen
Never lie, cheat or steal, always strike a fair deal
Open your eyes and see things as they really are
Quitters never win and winner never quit
Read study and learn about everything important in your life
Stop procrastinating
Take contol of your own destiny
Understand yourself in order to better understand others
Visualize it
Want to more than anything
Xcellerate your efforts
You are unique of all God's creations nothing can replace you
Zero in on your target and go for it !

P/S hope everyone enjoys it.
Vu Nguyen

AASUCCESS KEEPING CONNECTED

AASUCCESS PROJECT LEADERSHIP/SERVICE AWARDS (7/2007-10/2007)

At its quartery meeting last week, AASuccess Board/Council unamously approved two $200 project leadership/service awards for the following AASuccess student members:

1. Elizabeth Do is recognized for her demonstration of exceptional leadership in her involvements at the following projects: The 2007 AASuccess Fundraising Project; The 2007 Moon Festival Project, and the 2007 "Blue Hawaii" Project.
2. Dell Chithpravongsa is recognized for her demonstration of exeptional service/leadership in delivering the traditional Laotian Dance and the presentation on Laos, its culture and people at the "Blue Hawaii" Event.

Projects/Services are judged on such criteria as overall project management and project success, team members' feedback, sustainability efforts, maximum conflict resolution and collaborative efforts.

-------------------------------

AASUCCESS' QUALITY REPORT (7/2007-10/2007)

http://docs.google.com/View?docid=dhtczm5_175s5zhhs

--------------------------------

BUDGET ACCOUNTING:

Currently, AASuccess has $8000 dollars, of which $2000 donation is reserved exclusively for the Web Development Team; 20% of the remaining $6000 shall be put in a reserve fund, which shall be appropriated only in an emergency (currently undefined).

Wine Tasting/Silent Auction/Music Performance is set for December 15, 2007

Mai Nguyen and hopefully more seasoned members will be helping Mai on this project. Currently, Mimi, Dave, and Tam are committed to be involvedto provide critical resources and guidance, but we do need all the help wecan get from others.


January 19, 2008: College Fair/Career Fair


Christina Wadhani will initiate a project planning for this project, which is projected to have help and participations from college student fromthe colleges in the local region, e.g., James Madison, UVA, VCU, GMU, GWU,and MDU. AASUCCESS Board/Council disucssed and moved the motion in favor for a preliminary meeting with Christina and her points of contact soon. Early November is the deadline for finalizing the collaborative project.

Formation of Committees is approved unaminously

AASuccess Members: Please review the following links and return the the completely filled forms to us by November 10, 2007.

http://www.aasuccess.org/Internal%20Structure.html

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=df23bkj3_75f4fwhh

Dell's own reflection after the completion of her projects at the "Blue Hawaii" Event:

This project was my favorite one I've ever taken on! I never lead a whole project "on my own" before and the experience was fun! I got to improve my leadership skills that I now use in school (as Vice President of my Asian American Club). Through the process of finding dancers I had to chose my best friends because after all these years of being friends, they have never gotten the "taste" of the Laotian culture. The first practice was the most stressful and most unproductive because everyone was tired after a long day of school fundraising and honestly, some of the dancers didn't even want to be there. As the dance practices progressed I felt that the dancers and I bonded together better than we had before. I was surprised because one of my dancers didn't want to dance because he "claimed" that he didn't know the others, but in the end everyone got along well and I was very satisfied. The dancers managed to learn the Laotian dance so quickly and effectively and such a short amount of time. We even made minor to large changes in the routine when asked to on the spot. The final performance was not as good as practices but it was still a good performance that everyone enjoyed. Other than being off a few times we had a blast on the dance floor. As I looked around at my friends dancing I could see the smiles on their faces and how they were enjoying themselves. Now that it is all over I am a little sad. The bond that was built around the dance and the whole performing experience is something that I would always remember. -- -Dell Chithpravongsa
--------------------------------------------
As always, we welcome your feedback on this AAS weekly News or any other issue. Please also submit your interesting news to us. Please e-mail to aasteam@aasuccess.org

AASuccess

Hope Concert/3/Days from now

So the Hope Concert is three days from today, and it seems like Khoa and Vu are are promptly sending out emails left and right to update students on the situation of that day. They are working hard to ensure that the organization aspect of the project is smooth and fulfills all the requested duties. To students and leaders who are involved, may the event meet all of your expectations and grant you a new vision of how important it is to give back to the community as well as working together.

~Keep AAS rolling.

BLUE HAWAII PROJECT

Oct 8, 2007 12:06 AM

subject
THANK YOU!!!


Hello everyone,

With deepest appreciation & gratitude to all that had made Blue Hawaii a success. Our hardwork really paid off. Special thanks to Diane, anh Dave Nguyen & the AASuccess team along with To Linh, Dawn, Nina, Liza, Mimi, Thuc, Elizabeth, Vee, chi Lien, Joe, Vinh, Caroline, anh John, anh Thien,Yim, Cindy, Thu, Jean, Betty, Michael, and many others near & far.

Warmest Regards,

Phuong

----------------------------------

Hi Joe and everybody:
Great job last night. I hope everybody had a very good night sleeeep.
Everybody from the top, Thien, to the hard-working youths from AA Success all deserve my appreciation. Special recognition to Diane and Phuong for the great management, Liza and Mimi for the beautiful decoration, Joe for the wonderful displays, Vinnie and John for the high-tech set-up, Linh's MC expertise/great singing and Dave for being a great leader for the AAAAASuccess team.
It was great to meet up with my WHA team members from out of town.
See you all soon.
Michael.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Just a short note to thank everyone that had a part in the "Blue Hawaii" Event hosted and organized by the World Health Ambassador (WHA), and assistance from AASuccess. The dedication and "professionalism" exhibited by all of you, especially Dell, were key contributions to the event. Everything seems great to me from the first meeting to the many long days of practices, emails, phone calls, the long night before the event and the actual night of execution. And this was all made possible because of you all and the mentorship and special guidance provided by WHA's professional members, i.e., WHA Director Thien Do, Diane, Phuong, Liza, Joe, Vinh, John, Caroline, and our superb Mimi as well as Dell's Mother and Elizabeth's Father.
Thanks again to everyone and especially to Dell, Bao, Elizabeth and Vee for going the extra miles to make everything possible to its fullest extent.

An awesome update from Elizabeth :D

How's everyone? Things are going well I persume? Today was my homecoming football game, even thoguh our football team lost (no suprise) our stadium was filled with alumi and students. I felt happy that I got to see my seniors friends, back when I was a freshman. Everyone looks so great! Well anyways, I felt like updating since no one updated for a while.. 0:] I been pretty busy, but still making time to chill out with my friends. I hope everyone is doing well and good luck with everything!! :D

Ghosts. Boo :X.

Do you believe in ghosts? I know it may seem silly, but I do.

My mom said that she knows a very wealthy woman who lives in a haunted house. Its just in her basement though. Every so often she can hear a lot of kids playing and laughing in the basement. When the woman is feeling lucky, she buys them happy meals, and when she's feeling unlucky, she scolds them. Her little child also lives in the house and gets annoyed when she is trying to sleep and the house is filled with the voices of children. We assume that the house used to be a place where a day care center is.

But that brings me to my main topic. Thrift shops & good will. Would you ever shop there? I would, in fact, I always see a lot of awesome and cute things there. They're cheap and affordable, so what stops me from buying from there? I mean there's nothing wrong with straying from the norm. But I guess what stops me is that I'm afraid that the clothes might be haunted.

Maybe I'm a little too superstitious.

TENNIS DAY ^o^

This morning was quite irregular. I was woken up not by my alarm clock, but by the one and only Dave. At first, I didnt wanna pick up the phone because you know...Dave...whenever he calls, it means you are going to have some work to do. However, It took all my guts, closed my eyes tightly, tried to reach my phone..."hello"

"Hi Vee, wanna play tennis today with me and some other people?"

Of course I said yes.

Bao drove me there and we got lost 3 times =D and he even missed it: "There it is! Oops! I missed it! Darn!"

At 11:00am, we showed up at the tennis courts and Dave, Thuc (professional),Vien (professinoal), Dr Thieu (AAS advisory board), and his friend were already playing. I did not know that anh Thieu can play tennis, and I even thought that I was going to beat him today but it did not happen the way I wanted -_-'

Anh Thieu is pretty cool but he got beaten by chi Thuc and anh Vien at the end =]

It was fun and the weather was super nice; not too hot and not too cold but Mr. Bao kept saying "omg! I’m so cold!" and I was like "LMAO!”

After playing tennis, Dave, his kid (Liem), Bao, and I went to eat Pho. Dave never seems to finish his bowl for some reason...maybe because he too focused on socializing rather than chewing hehe =] However, he was able to completely finish his bowl this time...WHAT A SURPRISE!

I am?

The hardest challenge I have faced for years is to define myself. Who am I? What are my likes and dislikes? What do I want to do? These questions, often appear on networking websites, seem easy to answer. Yet, for me these questions are too hard to answer. The process of knowing oneself is long and difficult. I just hope that I will know a bit about myself before time's running out.
- Jay

Ridiculous Rose

Currently, this rose, which is part of a rose bush, is 9.4 feet high. It is about double the height of the other roses. It is being cultivated and nurtured by me at my house, Bao, but sigh, it is slowly dying. The petals are falling off each day, WHAT DO I DO? ANyways, isn't it amazingly ridiculous how tall it is. Monique and I found out that the guiness world record height is about 14 feet.

Friends & Family, what's the difference?

So i'm suppose to write this essay about family values and give examples to convey my experience with family. While reading the requirements and details, it says that family can consist of extended family members and friends. Now, if you all know me, you know I always value friendship as much as I value family. So here is where the internal problem arises: Is it wrong for me to write about friends instead of my family. Though in my family there is everlasting love and care, why do I choose to write about friends? I think the reason is because friendship implies effort, trust, and growth as two unrelated people start to sacrifice a little bit of their life for each other. Whereas the love from family is obvious and therefore often underestimated. Yea its true, I do undervalue my family, but my love for them is always going to be there. Maybe the true reason is because with friends, I get to care for them without asking for care in return. But when I do meet people who care for me as much as I care for them, I then acknowledge them as my family. I guess now I can use the words best friend and family interchangeably. So here I go, writing an essay about my family and providing a descriptive reflection on how they have shaped my life.

P.S. This isn't homework, it's for an essay contest that caught my attention.

Beautiful Eyes are an Ugly Thing

I always liked my eyes, you know? They were the only thing I liked about my body. They're big and brown and are the window to my emotions of angry and happy.But today. I realized. These pretty eyes of mine, they're not so pretty. They are painful and may lead to my downfall. Last week, I found out I had a cyst in my right eye in the right corner. We made an appointment today to take it out. My doctor actually wanted me to wait until it got bigger to take it out, but I just wanted it out now.So today, my mom took me to my ophthalmologist, her first time going with me and all. The first thing he did was stick a q-tip with the powers to numb into my right eye socket where the cyst was. Yeah, he just left it there for a good ten minutes while he had a pleasant chat with my mom about Vietnam. I sat there, I just kept on looking left because I didn't want to look right and see this q-tip sticking out of my eye. At first I was hysterical and laughing quietly to myself because it was so scary. Then I got used to it and just sat there. After a while, I realized he didn't take it out yet, I got hysterical again and started shaking a lot. I could not close my right eye because it was too uncomfortable to do so, so I just stared at the ceiling and my vision got blurrier and blurrier as I did.He finally took it out and then made me put my head/chin onto that contraption with the light and the super magnifying glasses so that he could see. Then right away he took a needle out and I made a whining noise because that has got to be the scariest needle that I would have EVER seen in my life. For some odd reason, it didn't hurt, I didn't even feel it. It must have been that magical q-tip.Soon he started bringing random sized tweezers, scissors, and a mini small small knife for incisioning near my eyes, and the whole time I had to look left as give him a clearer view of the cyst. It is a scary thing to see the doctor bring the scariest contraptions to your eye. However, I am lucky. I did not have to watch him poke around and pull with those things. I'm pretty sure I would have busted out crying if I did. Then the little scissors came. I heard him snipping away, and it freaked me out, it really did. To hear a doctor be THAT close to your eye and hear him snip skin away. I was whimpering the whole time because I was so scared. Unfortunately for me, the numbing medicine wore off and I felt every little pain. I started crying. So he injected me with the needle again.He was almost done, but there was apparently still a little stubborn piece that would not get out. And after more probing and pulling, he finally got it out. If he hadn't it probably would have grown back and the procedure would then again repeat itself. He fears there may be still a piece VERY deep in, but so deep that if he were to make a wrong move, he would cut open the liquid to my eyeball and there goes my eye. So I'm so unlucky, aren't I? The whole time, my mom had to hold my head up to the contraption so the doctor could see, because I was slowly backing away from it all. I was scared, so scared I didn't even notice I was moving.The worst part? He kept the tray on his right, which was my left. From time to time he would get a q-tip to wipe away the blood in my eye so that he could see better. It scared me how much blood was poring out. All of the materials he used became bloody, all the q-tips soaked in blood that they dripped onto the paper towel it was lying on. In the beginning he put a tissue paper underneath my chin, and in the end, it was soaked with blood and tears.After it was all done, the numbing medicine wore off, and all hell broke loose. He gave me a Tylenol to get better, and I think he also gave me a skittle (I could taste the flavorness), but I was so shaken up, I just swallowed it whole as if it was medicine. My eyes were so blurred, I couldn't even tell the difference between a skittle and medicine.There is still incisions and skin in my eye. It pokes my eye and taunts it so. It hurts. Its uncomfortable. I cannot do anything until it heals. Stupid skin poking my eye.Now that I am home. I want to cry. I tried my best to stay strong in the office. And I did. I told myself that I should wait to go home and cry, and here I am. I want to cry so badly. I want to scream and sob. I'm so scared, shocked, and shaken up, but I cannot cry. Do you know why? The salt in my tears cause agonizing pain into the wounds of my right eye. The more I cry, the more pain I will be in. So I will have to suppress my emotions inside. Maybe another day, maybe another day. I promised pictures, but right now, I'm so shaken up, I don't even want to look at my wounds. I'm sorry.Posted by Super Bunny at 4:53 PM Labels: eyes

Laughing from Distance

What do you do when you miss someone's voice? You pick up the phone and you call them and bother them until your satisfied haha. That night was our first "talk" since however long ago. Monique (jmu), Jay (uva), and I had one of those laughing conversations that revolved around Dave being such a cool guy. Don't get the wrong idea, Dave is always spoken highly of by us =]. Anywhoo, it was good hearing their voices again and just knowing that they're okay (Jay, especially, is having the time of his life =x). As for Monique, she's probably somewhere trying to hold her laughter in but can't, so now the kids around her thinks she's weird lolll. You two really do bring out the goofiness in me, which iono if its good or bad haha. Even so, its good to laugh at nothing and still enjoy every moment of it. Don't ever change just cause your far away. I know that we'll still be connected somehow~this means I'll always have my eyes on you O.O so be careful haha. For those who are far away for college, I hope you guys are okay too. Even though your probably tempted to do this and that, stay focus and never forget where you truly belong.

September 10, 2007

Dave's Corner.

On September 4, 2007, I posted a quote taken Robert Greenleaf on "Servant Leadership". So far, we have had one comment in response to the the quote. Below are a couple of thoughts from Robert Greenleaft on "What is like to be strong?"

You will be able to ask yourself such a basic question as “What is love?”
You will be able to judge the erring action and not judge the essential person.
You will be able to listen, really listen.
You will be able to forgive. Failure to forgive rankles, distracts, reduces energy, stifles entheos.
You will put the steadying hand on the shoulder of the person in trouble and communicate something that words can’t tell.
You will convince by your presence.
Wherever you are, it will make a difference just because you are there.
This, I believe, is what strong people are like.

How does "strength" as defined above have anything to do with leadership?
Is passion what some rely upon when they feel energized to embrace audacity in their actions?
Certainly, i have learned for many times to have hope when kicking myself boldly into the abyss. So far, I have been allright and learned something new everyday after such abyss.
Below are recent updates, enjoy and please feel free to post your comments at the end of this weekly news.
----------------------------------


Organizational Structure.

Pending Action items can be reviewed at
http://docs.google.com/a/aasuccess.org/Doc?id=df23bkj3_17f5f2t7.

Proposed Intra-Project based Committee
Focus sessions were also held among active members including Dell C. Kathy Ng., Julie K. Monique H., Minh Ha Do, Dan H., Nicole Poltash, Bao Ng., Minh Ng., Phu Nguyen (board member). The objective is to come up with a proposed internal structure which is primarily project-oriented, flexible, and accountable. This proposed draft shall be introduced at our monthly meeting to be held on Friday, 9/14/07 at 5:30 PM. Please contact aasteam@aasuccess.org if you would like to attend the meeting.

Our monthly guest speaker for this Friday's meeting is Ian Dang, PhD, currently working at the USPTO. Ian will share with us his perspective about challenges and success. The interactive session has been arranged for this friday (9/14/07) from 6:30-7:30 PM. Webcasting can also be arranged by emailing to aasteam@aasuccess.org Non-members are welcome to attend either via online or in-person meeting.

Proposed Guideline for Interview/AAS Membership
(Nguyen Nguyen-JHU)
Open for comments, deadline: 9/23/07
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=df23bkj3_27fbbm93



Preparation for upcoming projects.

9/23/07 - TET TRUNG THU FESTIVAL PROJECT
Project Lead: Minh Ha Do (George Mason University, AAS treasurer)
Registration for this project will open until midnight Thursday, please encourage your friends to join this fun project.
1. I will give you a list of our volunteers by Friday

2. Here are some specific tasks given to us: Front desk check-in (include helping ppl with their questions), manage purchase of tickets AND T-shirts


10/5/07 WHA 's "Blue Hawaii" Fundraising Project-All proceeds go toward a medical mission trip to Lao
AASuccess is pleased to have an opportunity to collaborate with WHA (http://www.whausa.org/) on the following projects:

1. Laotian Dance Project: Project Lead: Dell Chithpravongsa (Jeb Stuart H.S)

2. Powerpoint Presentation on Lao, its culture and people: Project Lead: Dell Chithpravongsa (Jeb Stuart H.S.).

For more information on Dell's profile, please click on: http://docs.google.com/View?docid=df23bkj3_26hc94gn

3. Decorative Project ("Blue Hawaii" Theme):
Project Lead(s): positions open. Email aasteam@aasuccess.org and student.council@aasuccess.org Deadline: Sunday: 9/16/2007.
Positions shall be assigned if needed.

WHA's Comment.
Thank you again for volunteering your time and participating in BH [Blue Hawaii]. We are excited to be able to announce our next medical mission trip at the event with your help. I am definite your presentation and the Laotian dance will be remarkable.

Please let me know if I can offer any assistance in your presentation.. If you have any questions please do not hesistate to ask me or any of the other members.

AAS Frequently Asked Questions (more inputs are needed: start blogging:).
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=df23bkj3_30gtzdfx

Members 'Blog".

(please help to contribute by blogging at http://www.blogger.com/ using aasteam@aasuccess.org (id) and pd: contact us at aasteam@aasuccess.org for pd).

Sad moment

Hi everyone, I would like to give an appreciation to everyone who had signed the card and sent the text message through Khoa’s cell phone to condolence the passing away of his aunt last Monday. Some of members also had taken their spare time to attend the funeral:Phuong NguyenVee VuBao NguyenThe funeral held on Friday from 9:30 AM – 1 PM, which was really short period of time for people to give respect. However, three of them had stayed until the last minute when his aunt’s casket pushed into the burning machine. At that time there was no word could be described how bad he had feel. His aunt is one third part of his life in the family. She had been living with his family since in Vietnam and until she moved to America last year. It’s really hard for him to accept the fact that his aunt is no longer with him. Here is the word that he said in Vietnamese “Ma da bo con roi.” Which is shown how much depression of him. So I hope everyone can help him goes through the difficult time right now, especially those who are going to George Mason University. It would be better if you could pray for his aunt. Please, don’t ever think you have to know his aunt to be able to pray for her.P.S.Khoa,AAS and I hope you will be happy again. When you smile is really nice, we want to see your smile again….

Sincerely,
Vu Nguyen
Posted by AASblog at 10:26 PM 0 comments
Thursday, September 6, 2007

an essay to share!
Hi everyone. It's Thanh. I've been in and out of the loop for so long that I don't even know if anyone still remember me! lol. Well, This semester is the first semester of my junior year at Mason. Having no choice, I have to take english 302 (extensive writing. Yuck). One of the topics that i got so far is to write about 3 people or events that influenced your career goal. Without hesistance, Dave came to be one of the 2 people that i wrote about. I'm sure you guys would do the same thing to *wink* - who wouldn't love Dave? Ok, here is my essay that I want to share with you all.---------*---------*--------*---------*---------
Big heart
A few summers ago I had the opportunity to meet a young entrepreneur; Mr. Dave Nguyen. He had a vision on how to unite young Asian American together and voice out their concerns, which was the beginning of a collaboration of service which later grew into a Non Profit Organization, where young Asian American came together in helping each other. This later grew into a leadership program that inspire young individual to take ownerships of their goals. Based on the overall structure, I felt this program was something I would be proud to be part of. After joining the organization I met 20 spectacular individual that has help me grow as a person. The organization motivates individuals through project and extensive activities where it molds individuals’ skills that we tend to stray away from.Dave has inspired me in many ways and also helped me understand that if you have a big heart you can accomplish anything. A good example is Mr. Dave himself; despite the fact that he works full-time, in his free time he built this non-profit organization. This made me feel that he had a lot heart and dedication. The greatest thing that I admire is that he still could find time to care for and mentor student member individually. To me, Dave is an important person not only because he cares about me, but also he helps me to realize my actual interests and goals. Through several discussions that we had about diseases, Dave has enlightened me on the Human Body infrastructure over chemistry. However, with my insistence on the love for chemistry, Dave has open doors for me by introducing me to several chemists. He wanted to give me the opportunities to explore all the possible careers paths base from my major (Chemistry). At the same time, Dave encouraged me to explore the fields of biology. On several occasion Dave invited me to a few tours of several prestigious genomic-research institutes. With that, he gradually brought doubts in me about my major. More than that, He even spent time helping me visualize the possible plan for my undergrad education. Because of Dave, I gain more confidence and I feel I am ready to start the journey of life.
Posted by AASblog at 2:51 PM 0 comments
Friday, August 31, 2007


AASblog said...
HEY! It's Dell! Happy Early Birthday Minh Ha!!!WELL school has been full of chaos! Since the first day 3 weeks ago I've been swamped with homework!!! I haven't even had time to go take behind-the-wheel so i could get my licence! =[ Well hopefully the school work will die down soon so I can have a break! I could use a break since I've been so stressed out lately with all the work and other things. Hope you guys are all doing well with school! -Dell C.


New AAS Members
We are glad to introduce Glen Leong (George Mason U) and Minh H Nguyen (Computer Science, recent graduate from GMU) who accepted our membership offers.

Please drop a welcoming note to Glen and Minh.
DATE JOINED: September, 2007.
Description of New Members:
Minh: http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=df23bkj3_29f56dbz
Glen: http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=df23bkj3_28cz9337

Current AAS Student Directory
http://spreadsheets.google.com/a/aasuccess.org/pub?key=pRHeLDNa9DviNL0W_ozTtFg
This link is available only for AAS members. Please use your AAS email account for access, or check your email for instruction.

--------------------------------
Volunteers who contributed to this past week's activities:
Blog: Vu Nguyen (Annandale HS), Thanh Pham (GMU), Dell C. (Jeb Stuart H.S), Ngoc Vee (GMU), Irina Nguyen (AAS board member)
Brainstorming (in person): Minh Nguyen (professional), Dell C, Kathy Nguyen (Jeb Stuart HS),
Julie Keddel (Jeb Stuart HS)
Brainstorming/Discussion (phone/online): Dan Huynn (VA Tech), Minh Nguyen (professional), Nicole Poltash (UVA), Minh Ha Do (GMU), Monique Huynh (JMU), Vu Nguyen (Annandale HS), Jacky Ta (GMU), Tam Nguyen (Fairfax HS), Phu Nguyen (AAS board member), Mimi Luu (AAS board Member), Nguyen Nguyen (JHU), Kendra Nguyen (Northwood HS), Bao Nguyen (GMU).

Email: Elizabeth Do, Nam Nguyen (AAS council), Tam Nguyen, Jacky Ta, Minh Ha Do, Dell C., Vu Nguyen, Robert Yang (Delaware U), Dan Huynh, Jay Pham (UVA).

Facebook: Nicole Poltash (UVA)
---------------------------------------

AASuccess Weekly News is designed to communicate items of interest to student members and professionals. You will find announcements about upcoming events, student organizations, individual accomplishments, project news, and activities to enhance bonding and and team spirit. Feedback and Suggestions are welcome.

Have a great week!

September 4, 2007

1. Dave's Corner

Hello everyone! I trust everything is going well for all of you, especially those who have gone back to school. I would like to share with you on a weekly basis a leadership insight that I have studied in my past and presence. For this week, the highlight is an emphasis on the human side of leadership: Reaching out and viewing yourself as insignificant. Perhaps, a paragraph taken from taken from the Servant As Leader published by Robert Greenleaf in 1970 would illustrate the point:

“The servant-leader is servant first… It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. He or she is sharply different from the person who is leader first, perhaps because of the need to assuage an unusual power drive or to acquire material possessions. For such it will be a later choice to serve – after leadership is established. The leader-first and the servant-first are two extreme types. Between them there are shadings and blends that are part of the infinite variety of human nature.”

I am particularly intrigued by the last phrase of the quote. Your comments and additional insights are welcome and appreciated.

On a different note, if you are interested in doing a weekly newsletter on any particular week, please let us know your name and date of the week.


2. Action Plan

Qi Li, Bao Nguyen and Kendra Nguyen have prepared the action plan as set forth in this link:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=df23bkj3_15g7fnf9
For those who have volunteered, please strategize and plan ahead for the resources and a completion date. Please comment to this weekly news or email aas board your initial plan at your earliest convenience. Below are updates of most if not all of the relevant activities in AASuccess.

3. Two Online Meetings:
The meetings were held on 9/2/07 and 9/3/07 among the project leads and current council members. For more information, please click on the following link, which is only accessible to active members of AAS:
http://docs.google.com/a/aasuccess.org/Doc?id=df23bkj3_17f5f2t7
Please use your AAS email account for access, or check your email for instruction. Your comments are needed and appreciated.

4. Board Structure: http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=df23bkj3_11gdhm94 (approved by majority)

5. Council of Advisors:
Student Council has been proposed to be replaced by Council of Advisors, and its proposed structure can be reviewed at http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=df23bkj3_12d8749h
During the online meeting on 9/2/07, the majority of attendees are receptive to the proposed change.
Please comment and provide inputs regarding the proposed structure of the council. As good governance is the key to the success of any organization, we truly hope the above structures (board and council) serve as a tool on daily basis to keep us focuses on our mission and goals.

6. Proposed Student's Project Initiative Form:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=df23bkj3_16crdnxg
The content of this form is open for comments.

7. Proposed Guidelines on how to be a project lead/Proposed self-evaluation form
http://docs.google.com/a/aasuccess.org/Doc?id=df23bkj3_18gtgpdg
This link is available only for AAS members. Please use your AAS email account for access, or check your email for instruction. Your comments are needed and appreciated.

8. Instruction for access to online meeting and web seminar
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=df23bkj3_19hcxxbz

9. Website Development Internship:
Application is posted on http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=df23bkj3_14f2k99m
Deadline: 9/7/07 If you possess computer skills and would like to help AAS as a member, please apply. Thank you.


11. Dell C. initiated requests to lead projects inquired by WHA (http://www.whausa.org/)
Laotian Dance Project: http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=df23bkj3_20gwm28t
Power Point Presentation-Lao and its culture:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=df23bkj3_21dzdqq4

12. "Trung Thu" Project requested by community based organizations:
Date and time needed: 9/23/07, 11AM-4PM
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=df23bkj3_22cxqk2h
Action Needed: 1) Board/Council: If objected, please email aasteam@aasuccess.org
2) 6 student volunteers or less needed: any lead person (?)

13. New AAS Members:

We are glad to introduce the following student who accepted our membership offers. We also would like to extend our thanks to Nguyen Nguyen (Johns Hokpins University)
Please drop a welcoming note to our AAS active student members.
DATE JOINED: September, 2007: Click on the following link for more detail:
Description of New Members:http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=df23bkj3_23f6js4t

14. Current AAS Student Directory
http://spreadsheets.google.com/a/aasuccess.org/pub?key=pRHeLDNa9DviNL0W_ozTtFg
This link is available only for AAS members. Please use your AAS email account for access, or check your email for instruction.

15. Please drop us a comment if you would like to have a monthly meeting on 9/7/07 or 9/14/07.

16. Keeping in touch:

Minh Ha:
Hi everyone,I have come back to school this week and things are getting hectic!!! I hope everyone is going to have a nice 3-day long weekend. I have been busy with school, so probably I won't enjoy much. I just want to share with you all that I have asked my friend to help us finish our website. He's my colleague. So, I hope our website will be done soon.Besides all those, nothing is really important except my birthday is coming soon. Sep 12, I'm going to turn 20.I encourage each and everyone of AAS, please spend a little time to build our newsletter more exciting and interesting.
posted by AASblog at 12:42 PM on Aug 31, 2007

AASblog said...
Hey this is Kendra! THanks for the first update chi Ha. Happy early birthday! lol. :) Indeed im sure that everyone is very busy due to school, including myself. I have been idle for a bit and am trying to get active again. I hope everyone would try to do the same. We all know that everyone is busy, but all that is needed is a quick 2 mins blog if possible!My update: School started and its been HECTIC! I have to solve some school issues asap and have tons of work to get done already. But Im trying to get use to the flow of things again. Hope everyone is doing good!xoxoKendra
September 2, 2007 9:10 PM

AASblog said...
hey minh ha!! happy early b-day! i hope things will go well for u at school!! :]
September 2, 2007 9:20 PM

AASblog said...
happppy early birthdayyyyy minh ha!!!!! it's been awhile since I came back to tech 2 weeks ago, and yups, same with the others, class works start to pick up its pace =/ but yea, we just had a football game against ECU, and we won by 17 - 7, the only thing is i didn't get a ticket to watch it in the stadium, but it's okays, there will be other chances =) but yea, keep up the good works!!! and good luck in ur classes!!! ~Qi
September 2, 2007 9:21 PM

AASblog said...
oo that was Elizabeth btw..hah sorry :D
September 2, 2007 9:22 PM

AASblog said...
Hey, this is Dan,Just wanting to wish a you a early Happy Birthday Ha`! Hope everything's going alright with you at GMU.At Vtech, we don't get labor day off, so I actually have to wake up in 6 hours or so. -_- I've been busy trying to settle in lately and get acquainted with the people and area here. I'm most likely joining the VSA (Vietnamese Student Association) and the CAS (Chinese American Society). Qi mentioned to me about the service fraternity too, so I could get involved in that for the spring semester. There's lots of things, so I'll see.How's everyone else doing?- Dan
September 2, 2007 9:41 PM


16. Volunteers who contributed to this past week's activities:

Blog: Monique Huynh (JMU), Minh Ha Do (GMU), Dan Huynh (VA Tech), Kendra Nguyen (Northwood HS), Elizabeth Do (Falls Church HS), Robert Yang, Qi Li (VA Tech)

Online Meetings: Nguyen Nguyen (JHU, left out due to a glitch), Lauren Lin (Woodson HS), Jacky Ta (GMU), Nam Nguyen (VA Tech), Mai Nguyen (Falls Church HS), Robert Yang (Delaware U), Kathy Nguyen (Jeb Stuart), Elizabeth Do (Falls Church HS), Jay Pham (UVA), Bao Nguyen (GMU), Dell C. (Jeb Stuart HS), Nicole Poltash (UVA, left out due to Dave's fault)

Organization and Brainstorming: Mai Nguyen (Falls Church HS), Kendra Nguyen (Northwood), Minh Ha Do (GM U), Nguyen Nguyen (JHU), Tam Tran (Professional), Jim Alstrum, Erik Giblin, Minh Hai (Professional/New Member)

Communications Via Emails: James Wu (VA Tech), Nam Nguyen (VA Tech), Nicole Poltash (UVA), Dell C, Elizabeth Do, Nguyen Nguyen, Jacky Ta, Minh Ha Do, Bao Nguyen, Phu Nguyen, Kelly Li, Jim Alstrum

WHA based Projects: Dell C


------------------------------------------
AASuccess Weekly News is designed to communicate items of interest to student members and professionals. You will find announcements about upcoming events, student organizations, individual accomplishments, project news, and activities to enhance bonding and and team spirit. Feedback and Suggestions are welcome. Please submit your news by September 9, 2007.

Have a great week!

August 24, 2007

All,

AASuccess Action Plan has been posted. Please click at the following link for information and volunteer project(s) for which you could volunteer. Those who have volunteered, please strategize and plan ahead for the resources and a completion date:

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=df23bkj3_15g7fnf9

Announcement #1:

On August 22nd, AAS board had a meeting at Phu's house to discuss the board and professional capacity. We did vote on the capacity (see attachment) in favor of the majority. Board members were present at the meeting are:

Dave Nguyen
Phu Ngoc Nguyen
Dan Ye
David Montanari
Tien Le
Kelly Li
Jim Alstrum-Acevedo
Binh Nguyen

Other board members (Sumesh Kaushal, Irina Nguyen, Jake Vu and Mimi Luu were absent)

Meeting minutes:
1. Board's Capacity
Six requirements for board members (Click the following link for detail: http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=df23bkj3_11gdhm94 ):

• To involved as a lifeline in at least one of the major projects.
• To find a funding source for at least 300 dollars for AAS scholarship or grant.
• To contribute 50 dollars to our on-the-spot award program per fiscal year.
• In person quarterly meeting is mandatory.
• Attendances in 3 major AAS events: AAS annual retreat, annual AAS award ceremony and AAS annual fundraising dinner are required.
• To facilitate at least one of the following options during the fiscal year:
  a) Facilitate 1 monthly workshop/seminar (such as leadership and communication skill seminar);
  b) Organize 1 students monthly meeting;
  c) Lead 1 student volunteering project (such as cooking for the sick children etc).

AAS Board: Please comment on our AAS board forum by clicking on the following link (Note: the forum will ask you for two passwords, one is used to get into the forum, and once entered, click on the upper left corner at "Asian American Success", then click on "Board Forum" on the menu, a second password is needed to enter the board forum. Kendra will send you an update on the procedure soon):
http://z6.invisionfree.com/AASuccess/index.php?showtopic=87

2. Professional Member's Capacity:
One requirement for professional members: (if one cannot fulfill such requirement, but he or she wishes to be involved with AAS, he or she could be a AAS supporter/friend)
To involved as a lifeline in at least a project led by a student member of AAS or contribute at least 50 dollars towards AAS scholarship or grants.

3. Guidlines for Collaboration:
Due to the numbers of organizations approaching AAS, a procedure is needed to post such volunteering opportunity to AAS students. Kelly will work with students to come up with such procedure.

4. Guidlines for Grant/Award
We also discussed about how an award/grants are formulated and distributed.
A grant is to support a project that is written and lists out the cost to accomplish the project, we should support such and dish out the money and approving the proposal.
An award can be given bi-monthly or more depending on a number of projects being completed. An award should be based on the data obtained from a self-evaluation form, feedbacks and recognition/recommendation from a lifeline/collaborators.
One condition though: the award will be given only as a reimbursement (up to a given amount) to cover expenses spent for college's books and necessary supplies. Each award should be in a range of a couple of hundred dollars.


Kelly Li
Secretary of Asian American Success
kelly.li@aasuccess.org
http://www.aasuccess.org/

Announcement # 2:
New AAS Members:
We are glad to introduce the following students who accepted our membership offers. We also would like to extend our thanks to Nguyen Nguyen (Johns Hokpins University), Qi Bin (Virginia Tech), Jay Pham (University of Virgina), and Bao Nguyen (George Mason Unviversity) who have volunteered their time and resources to interview at least one student applicant.

If you would like to represent AASuccess in interviewing a prospective student member, please email us at aasteam@aasuccess.org or post a comment to this newsletter. As an interviewer, you shall be able to enhance your interviewing skills, decision making process, and mentoring skills.
Please drop a welcoming note to our AAS active student members.

DATE JOINED: August, 2007: Click on the following link for more detail:
Description of New Members:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=df23bkj3_9dd794s

Current Student Directory (nees AAS Password to view, check with Kendra if questions):
http://spreadsheets.google.com/a/aasuccess.org/pub?key=pRHeLDNa9DviNL0W_ozTtFg

Announcement #3:

We are in the process of solidifying our student council's and student member's structures. Please review the propossed student council's and student member's capacity. We would like to hear from all of AAS student members. Drop us a note by commenting to this newsletter or email us. Deadline for sending comments: September 14, 2007. Please click on the following link for further detail:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=df23bkj3_12d8749h (Student Council)
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=df23bkj3_13gvck4r (Student Member)

Announcement #4: Internship

1) Website Development Internship: Deadline: 8/28/07
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=df23bkj3_14f2k99m

2) AAS Monthly MEETING: Please save the date: September 8, 2007, and stay tuned for infomration

AAS Upcoming Projects:


"Tet Trung Thu" Event
When: Sep 23rd 2007, 11:30am - 4pm
Where: at Thomas Jefferson Community Center, Arlington VA.
Potential tasks/projects to lead: sale tickets, T-shirts, distribute moon cakes and labbes ( lo^`ng den`) for kids and so on...
Stay tuned for more information...


WHA's Fundraising Event: Blue Hawaii Event:

Where: Lucky Three Restaurant, Arlington VA
When: 10/5/2007
Why: Medical Mission to Laos in 2008
Potential student's project: WHA is working AAS for a collaborative project, which can be led by our student members and a professiona lifeline.
Update: Dell C. is interested to be a lead for at least one project; A request from WHA will be submitted soon. Stayed tuned for further information if you woud like to volunteer to be a part of this project.

Hope Benefit Concert
When: October 27, 2007
Where: Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall, Alexandria, Virginia
Why: Raise funds for future projects in 2008 - 2009: 1. Building a local community medical clinic, 2. Building an elementary school in Dak Nong Province.
Potential Student's Project: Hope is working AAS for for a collaborative project, which can be led by our student members and a professiona lifeline.
Update: Khoa Tran and Vu Nguyen are interested in this potential project; A request from Hope will be submitted soon. Stayed tuned for further information if you woud like to volunteer to be a part of this project.


RECENTLY COMPLETED PROJECTS:

Food for Others- Harvest for the Hungry -by Lisa Nguyen (UVA)

Hey everyone-

I was assigned to be an observer for this project and to give feedback on my experience and the experiences of others. After having breakfast at McDonald’s, all of the AAS members took several cars to the USDA Beltsville Agricultural Research Center in Maryland. We then all followed the organizers to the harvesting fields nearby. Today, we were asked to harvest potatoes , which were to be sent to a warehouse in Fairfax, VA, then distributed to needy families. I found this activity to not only be rewarding, but a fun experience for the AAS members. We were able to get our task done while getting to know one another in a more informal environment.

As a fairly new member to AAS, I was able to talk to other members in a one-on-one basis. By the end of the harvesting session, we were all tired and hungry, but had a truck-full of potatoes to show for our hard work. I believe that this project was organized and carried out very well. Jay collected and made sure everyone had their waiver forms at the beginning and Tien printed extra directions to the harvesting site.

When I asked for other volunteers’ feedback, the car that I was in (containing Michael, Jay, and Byron) believed that this project turned out much better than they expected it to be. They thought that it was fun, a kind and helpful act towards others, and a nice day to pick potatoes in.

Thanks to Tien and Kelly, our professionals, we kept on task. And thanks to all of our members (Michael, Jay, Byron, Minh Ha, Amy, Dell, Bao, Judy, the person who arrived with Dell [I’m sorry I forgot your name!] and myself) for participating and being a tremendous help in this community service activity.
I believe that we should try to do this activity more often because of the satisfaction of helping others in need and the unity that it brings to our group. My only suggestions for next time are to have more people participate and to remember to wear comfortable clothing and SNEAKERS (some of us got poked unfortunately).

ps: sorry this was a little long...thanks to all of you who read about my input =] enjoy the rest of summer guys! As for me, I will be moving in in less than a week so I probably won't be able to see you guys until Thanksgiving or Winter Break. So GOOD LUCK to everyone!

pps: here are some photos that me and michael took...there will be more on my facebook within the next couple of hours!

CHILDRENN INN's PROJECT

Personal Reflection by Bao Nguyen (George Mason): Thank you everyone who made it out to the Children's Inn event at NIH. We all worked really hard and pushed to beat the clock, but we did it. The food was amazing and we all had a fun time mixing this, tossing that, chopping this, rolling that....ahh w/e you get the point. The families had smiles on their faces when walking in to get food. This was a truly unforgettable event. It being my first year participating, this is a must-do-again experience.

P.S. Good job team Doan, Bao, Phuong, Chau, Lisa (who couldn't make it)!.......haha and everyone else too! =P

There will be a full written Report on this event soon. For everyone who missed the opportunity to join us, the report will hopefully give you incite into what we did.

Personal Reflection by Ngoc (Vee) Vu (George Mason): We had more food than last time because of our preparations and resources contributed by both professionals (Doan Nguyen, Tam Tran, Chau Nguyen, Irina Nguyen, Tien Le and Dan Ye) and students (Bao Nguyen, Ngoc Vee, Phuong Nguyen, Vu Huynh, Long Hua, Chau Vu, Allyson Nguyen). In fact, we planned ahead and have our people divided into 3 teams and each team had their own menu to make/ Everybody did a great job. They all know their roles, what they supposed to do, and we made delicious food ever! YaY!! Go AAS!!!!!! However, I think it would be more fun and better if we tried to help each other more at the cleaning phase after we finished our meal preparations. By doing so, we could all share a fellow-feeling and nourish our team work and team spirit.

PROPOSED FLOW PROCESS OF OUR FUTURE WEBSITE:

Dave: Hats off to Bao Nguyen and Minh Ha Do because they are two of our hardest workers. Both spent the entire Friday night and morning of Sat to brainstorm and complete the flow chart, which was sent to Mimi and Sumesh for review.

-------------------------------------
Random Thoughts (Monique Huynh, JMU)

Bao Nguyen (George Mason): Last Sunday we went to the Harvest for the Hungry event. We all met up at Dave's house around 8:30 and departed to the USDA around 9:20. Upon arrival, we immediately went to the farm to pick potatos. The board members were Tien and Kelly, and the students were, BAO, Michael, Jay, Byron, Dell, Julia (dells friend), Mandy, Minh Ha, Lisa, and Amy. The weather was perfect and the surrouding was peaceful, but kinda smelly. We all had a lot of fun working/hanging out with each other. Afterwards we went to Eden to eat.

Minh Ha Do (George Mason):
Like Bao said, I was part of the Havesting activity. I will go back to school on the 27th!!! nothing is really exciting yet, but i'll give u more updates if there's any!!!

Jay Pham (UVA):
My move-in day to UVA is the 25th, along with Lisa Nguyen, Byron Cheon, and Nicole Poltash :)

NgocVee Vu (George Mason):
Hi,My school starts on August 27th.
i have not done any activities lately-just stay home, read books, and study/review some materials to get ready for the school....

Robert Yang (Delaware University):
Well, I'm off to Delaware on the 25th. I really haven't done much at all either

Khoa Tran (Geore Mason):
I've been very busy with work and getting ready for my first year at GMU..quite excited..a little bit..I am starting on the 27th with Vee and Phuong.

Dan Huynh (Virgina Tech):
I moved down to Blacksburg on the 16th. I basically settled in before classes began on the 20th. Nothing too upbeat has happened so far, I'm just getting to know the campus and the people around here. Qi has invited me to join the service Fraternity here lol, I might join and see what its like. I've met Nam a couple times, he helped me setup my new Tablet PC, kudos to Nam! I met up with some people in my school like James and classes have been okay, besides that, that's about it.

Monique Huynh (James Madison University):
And as for myself, I've been back at JMU for a week now. I'm all moved in to my itty bitty little townhouse with my 2 roommates and things haven't been pretty smooth so far. Classes start on the 27th and Rush Week for Pi Sigma Epsilon is coming up so things are about to get busy. On a side note, I was sent a link to a You Tube video about the U.S. Ambassador event that some people from AAS went to. There's a small part near the end, at about 6 minutes, where I'm answering a question haha so I thought you might want to check it out. Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqn_OJYiJtQ
----------------------------------


A Thank You Note from Bao Nguyen (George Mason U)
To Dan Ye,
Thank you for having the Housewarming party and inviting us to your apartment. The food was perfect for a social event and everyone was into talking and just hanging out (Dave especially.....he's so passionate about AAS haha). I had a great time and I'm sure everyone else did also. It was also thoughtful of you to invite AAS students to such a highclass area and party surrounded by professionals and adults. Though I must say that the pizza would not have been served if we weren't there =] haha. This party was just right for building and strengthening distant relationships. Again, it was very considerate and thoughtful of you to have the party and make it open to anyone who wished to join. I hope we can work together more in the future!

Sincerely,
Bao Nguyen
---------------------------------
Volunteers contributed to this past week's activities:
Interview Panel: Jay Pham (UVA), Qi Bin (VATech), Nguyen Nguyen (JHU), Bao Nguyen (GMU).

Emails sent to Applicants: Minh Ha Do (GMU)

Children Inn's Project: 1) Students: Vu Huynh, Bao Nguyen, Chau Vu (Woodson HS), Ngoc Vu (GMU), Long Hua (NoVa), Phuong Vu Nguyen (GMU); 2) Professionals: Doan Nguyen, Tam Tran, Chau Nguyen, Irina Nguyen, Tien Le and Dan Ye

"Harvest for the Hungry": Lisa Nguyen (UVA), Dell C. (Jeb Stuart HS), Amy Tran (Falls Church HS), Julie Kerdell (Jeb Stuart HS); Michael Nguyen (Robert Lee HS), Byron Cheon (UVA); Jay Pham (UVA), Minh Ha Do (GMU), Mandy Lin (GMU), Bao Nguyen (GMU), Tien Le (Exxon/Mobil), Kelly Li (Exxon/Mobil)

ReMax/Welty Schedule: Bao Nguyen (GMU)

Website: Lauren Lin (Woodson HS), Jay Pham, MinhHa Do, Bao Nguyen, Sumesh Kaushal, Mimi Luu, Jim Alstrum

Weekly News: Monique Huynh (JMU), Minh Ha Do

Treasury Update: Minh Ha Do

------------------------------------------
AASuccess Weekly News is designed to communicate items of interest to student members and professionals. You will find announcements about upcoming events, student organizations, individual accomplishments, project news, and activities to enhance bonding and and team spirit. Feedbacks and Suggestions are welcome. Please submite your news by September 2, 2007
Have a great week!