2020-2021 Fullerton College APIA Award Recipient

 Logan Ueno is the recipient of Fullerton College’s APIA award for 2020-2021. Logan Ueno was a leader on campus and in his community. In fall of 2020, Logan took the lead to research, script, and produce short, informational videos explaining each of the 12 ballot propositions so voters would be better informed. As the Vice-President of Records of Associated Students, Logan’s duty was to take meeting minutes, oversee attendance, and chair the A.S. Judicial Committee. As an officer of Associated Students, one of his main goals that came to fruition was creating a new Executive Officer position to help A.S. with student outreach and publicity to engage our student body.

In addition to his extensive service at Fullerton College, Logan is also active in the community and works at the Orange County Buddhist Church, serves on the Los Angeles Buddhist Coordinating Council, and the Senior Young Buddhist Association.

Logan’s academic goal is to attend a UC majoring in Political Science with law school in his sights so he can obtain his Juris Doctorate. His career aspirations are to either enter public service by running for office to help the voiceless or working for the state department in global diplomacy.

2020-2021 NOCE APIA Award Recipient

Kim Vu is the North Orange Continuing Education (NOCE) APIA scholarship recipient for 2020-21. She truly exemplifies the spirit of the APIA scholarship. Kim moved to the U.S. from Vietnam with her family when she was in high school and began to take advantage of all the educational opportunities available to her at North Orange County Community College District. She attended NOCE and completed her High School Diploma while also taking English as a Second Language (ESL). 

She then transferred to Fullerton College and began taking courses that would eventually prepare her to transfer to one of the California State Universities in the fall where her goal is to become a Physician Assistant. This was inspired by her work in a family physician’s office where she realized that she could make a positive impact on the lives of others, not just physically, but emotionally as well. With that goal in mind, Kim wanted to gain more formal medical knowledge so while taking courses at Fullerton College, she enrolled back into NOCE and will complete the Medical Assistant Program this  summer.

2020-2021 Cypress College APIA Award Recipients

This academic year proved to be a difficult one for the Cypress College APIA scholarship committee. They were unable to decide on only one receipient so this year, there are an unprecedented three APIA Cypress College recipients. 

Nguyen Tran, or Harley as he is known by the college community, immigrated to the United States at age seventeen. Since then, Harley has shown perseverance and determination in reaching his goals. While studying as a Business major at Cypress College, Harley oversaw the transition of the college’s Business Club to the online environment during the pandemic. As the club’s president, his efforts led to an increase in members’ interactions and activities in the Business Club as well as an increase of 300 members on their Instagram account.  His campus involvement included serving as the Vice President of Fiscal Affairs for Cypress College Associated Students where he was involved in many successful initiatives such as weekly food distribution to approximately 500 students. Harley’s service earned him the Service Above Self Award from Associated Students. 

Harley’s activities are not limited to Cypress College. He has been a presenter at the UC Irvine Community College Honors Research Conference twice. He also volunteers in educational outreach to high school students through the organization, Reach!, and as Youth Awareness Student Ambassador for the California Moose Association. Because of his involvement and interest in education, Harley hopes one day to use his business acumen to establish a foundation that will expand educational opportunities in developing countries.

2020-2021 Cypress College APIA Award Recipient

 

(John) Phat Mai is one of the 2020-2021 APIA Cypress College Scholarship Recipients. John began studying in this country in 10th grade and is the first one in his family to attend college in the United States. His ultimate goal is to become a medical doctor and bring change to underserved multicultural communities. With this in mind, John has been an avid volunteer in the medical field accumulating over 200 hours of service with Maxcare. During the pandemic, he volunteered at a Maxcare affiliate company, the 360 clinic, where he assisted with the administration of COVID tests throughout Orange and LA counties by setting up equipment for frontline workers and communicating with people about their appointments.  As a COPE Health Scholar, John was able to gain hands-on experience assisting nurses and patients at Kaiser Permanente Anaheim.

 John was active at Cypress College as president of the International Club and part of the STEM program. Through these activities, he developed skills that led his recommender to list his strengthens as leadership, organization, professionalism, adaptability, empathy and cultural competence. As a well-rounded individual, John demonstrated his artistic side by playing classical guitar during weekly virtual fundraising events in the summer of 2020.  John is majoring in Biology and hopes to transfer to UCLA to earn a degree in microbiology, immunology, and molecular genetics.
 

2020-2021 Cypress APIA Award Recipient

Anh Nguyen is one of the three APIA Cypress College 2020-2021 award recipients. After arriving in the United States, she was a dedicated volunteer at the Refugee Helping Center and is currently volunteering at the Orange County Asian and Pacific Islander Community Alliance helping others like herself who are struggling with English and managing in a new country. Anh is able to use her experiences to provide services with empathy and care. As a volunteer, some of Anh's duties include translating and interpreting for others, and making referrals to important services. 

Anh has received the Courage Award from the North Orange Continuing Education campus and despite personal hardships, Anh has persevered and maintained a 4.0 grade point average while caring for her daughter. In the future, she hopes to work in the health care field and continue her work helping others.