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Kyle Tianshi Editor's note: Kyle Tianshi is a high school student from the Class of 2024 at The Cambridge School. Kyle was a recipient of Scholarship for API Student Internship 2023 for two programs - Journalism and Community Service Project. ACA thanks Kyle for this special report. ACA wishes to express sincere gratitude to San Diego API Coalition, San Diego Chinese Women's Association, Qualcomm, The Hom Family Fund, The Avery Tsui Foundation, and numerous community individuals, for their generous grants or donations that make this program possible.  Alliance of Chinese Americans San Diego (ACA) held its fifth annual graduation ceremony on Aug. 19 for 57 Asian American college, middle, and high school students who were selected for various civic engagement internships over the summer, including public service internships within government offices, journalism internships, and community service internships. In attendance were Mayor Todd Gloria, Councilmember Kent Lee, and representatives from the offices of Sara Jacobs and Mike Levin. Mayor Gloria thanked the ACA board and congratulated the students for their contributions to the community. Of Filipino descent, he then emphasized how only four AAPI individuals ever held an elected position in all of San Diego’s 173-year history. “For many of us, we have to be told that it’s okay for us to run [for office],” he said. “I hope that what you can see is that we can serve in these offices.” Councilmember Lee shared his journey to office, driven by his involvement with the Pacific Arts Movement, an Asian American media organization. “Consider what organizations, what causes, that really matter to you most, and just take a chance to be involved,” he said. “While you’re at it, bring others to the table and ensure that they also have that voice.” The public service interns then shared insights into their experiences working alongside local city officials. Anna Feng, under Congressman Mike Levin, detailed drafting policy memos, attending conferences, and competing in the Congressional App Challenge. Lia Zheng, collaborating with Mayor Gloria, discussed streamlining processes for delivering service letters and answering constituent calls. The journalism interns took to the stage to present the stories they researched, which included features about Maestro Jahja Ling, a Chinese American conductor, Sam Luo, a queer Chinese American writer, and Dr. Vi Nguyen, a pediatrician and climate activist. They also showcased some of their journalistic skills, interviewing Councilmember Lee about his ramen spice level preferences and others about their favorite ice cream shops. Community service interns each proposed ideas to ACA and spent hundreds of hours executing their projects. Junnie Niu performed Guzheng, an Ancient Chinese music instrument, as part of her goal to share ethnic music with seniors. Kevin Kan taught classes about drawing tomato-fried eggs, xiao long bao, and traditional characters to connect American-born Chinese students with their culture. Sophie Zeng, Sarah Gao, David Lai, Eleyn Xiong, and others led environmental initiatives to encourage composting, restore wildlife, and eliminate invasive species. The ceremony concluded with remarks from Ron Cho, a member of Mayor of San Diego’s Asian Pacific Islander Advisory Board. “[Mayor Gloria] didn’t bail out on you guys,” he said in reference to Tropical Storm Hilary, which hit San Diego the next day. Cho says it’s because Mayor Gloria believes in the importance of Asian American representation in the public sphere. “Our voice gets louder,” he said. “It gets closer to what we are––which is a sizable part of our community’s population.” Below is the full list of students recognized in this year’s award ceremony. Public Service Internship Mirabel Luo with Congressman Scott Peters Katelyn Wang with Congresswoman Sara Jacobs Anna Feng with Congressman Mike Levin Lia Zheng with Mayor Todd Gloria Alec Sun with Councilmember Kent Lee API Summer Internship in Journalism YJ Si (mentor) Sydney Chan Hans Yang Kyle Tianshi Sarah Gao API Community Service Internship Community Service by Courageous Youth Dragon Boat Team Leaders: Alan Zhang, Brigitte Shi, Crystal Cheng, Vivian Chen, Yangminxing Wu Members: Amy Zhang, Audrey Chi, Chuqi He, Charles Liu, Derek Qi Ying, Jinzhe Zhu, Yinjie Lai, Yangminyan Wu, Arwen Fu Organic Waste Deteriorating In Landfills — Just Say No Leader: David Lai Member: Dale Deng, Jenna Xu, Jason Wang Green Teens - A Recycling Initiative for Asian American Youth Leader: Eleyn Xiong Members: Zoe Pei, Rebecca Lin, Brooke Wang World Music Festival Leader: Junnie Niu Members: Sophia Liu Mobile Tinker Lab Leaders: Katherine Ge, Erik Tang, Joyce Tan Members: Richard Chen, Ryan Fu, Bryan Peng, Jessy Zhang, Sara Lu, Chloe Wong Empowering American-Born Chinese Children with Art Leader: Kevin Kan Members: Lauren Kan, Max Yang Clearwater Innovation Policy Incubator Leader: Kyle Tianshi Members: Jasmine Wu, Leanne Fan, Katelin Sung, Angel Aquino A free and exercise tracking App for Autism kids Leader: Menghai Kou Members: Suo Qin, Vivien Ke Petals for the Planet Leader: Sarah Gao Members: William Gao, Hsiu Lee Project ARISE — AI-assisted Removal of Invasive Species for Environmental Restoration Leader: Sophie Zeng Members: Grace Yao Photo credit: Xiu Yu, Ping Chen
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