Student Org Spotlight: Asian-American Students Association

Asian American Students Association welcomes an inclusive and active community for UNC's Asian American students. Political chair Sophie Jiang shares more about this ever-growing student organization:  

1. What is AASA all about? 
   The Asian American Students Association (AASA) is a student-lead organization dedicated to fostering an inclusive and active community for Asian Americans on UNC’s campus. We focus on amplifying Asian American voices and experiences through our programming including socials, educational events, the sibling program and our annual showcase, Journey into Asia. 

2. How do you help students? 
   I think AASA helps students find the broader Asian American community at UNC. The Asian population at UNC is relatively small and often it can be an isolating experience at a PWI, so our goal is for our members to feel accepted and active within the community, and to really feel a sense of belonging on campus. We also focus a lot of our programming on education about Asian cultures and the varied adversities that Asian Americans face. 

3. What do you like most about being a member of AASA? 
   As a member of AASA, my favorite parts were the different events that were put on. Each month, depending on what I feel like, I can go play games, meet new people, discover new cultural traditions, or have thoughtful conversations about how Asian American identity impacts our community. AASA also has bigger events like the annual weekend beach trip and Journey into Asia, our spring semester showcase that features many cultural orgs from all around the triangle area. The picture that I attached is from our beach trip this year! 

4. What does your identity mean to you? 
   For me, being Asian American means feeling proud and simultaneously disconnected from my culture. It also means having to discover what being Asian in America means for myself, as well as having to learn about Asian American history myself. I find that being Asian American in a white dominated society can be very emotionally and mentally draining, so finding a community like AASA’s has helped alleviate much of that stress.   

5. How can students get involved with AASA? 
   AASA has no membership fee, so anyone can get involved if they want to! Our events are usually posted on our instagram @uncaasa, or people can join our listserv.