Newsletter

December 2007
Intern Alum Spotlight: Kenny Chung (2004)

Kenny Chung graduated from CAPA Community Eduation Fund’s Internship Program in 2004, where he worked in the office of Contra Costa Supervisor Gail Uilkema. He is currently a senior at UC Davis.

How has the CAPA internship experience applied to you in your studies at UC Davis? CAPA has made a big influence on me during my time here at UC Davis. I am now currently majoring in Asian American Studies.

At UC Davis, are you involved in the affairs of the school’s political scene? Or even nearby in the Sacramento area? Last year I attended a convention for OCA. OCA stands for Organization for Chinese Americans. It is a non-profit organization, their duties are similar to CAPA. The main goal is to increase Asian American awareness.

What year are you at UC Davis, how has college life treated you? It is currently my fourth year. College life has been treating me well. I am doing well in most of my classes. I am involved in an Asian American fraternity. I hope to graduate next year.

What are your plans after you graduate at UC Davis? Graduate school, enter the workforce, take a year off to travel? I plan to join the work force, if I decide to go into law I might attend law school somewhere else. I am applying for a lot of internships right now so hopefully I would find a decent job out of it.

What is your major and why did you decide on this field of study? I am currently majoring in Asian American studies and minoring in Political Science. I chose this field because I want to contribute a lot of work to Asian communities. Increasing Asian American awareness has always been a passion of mine. With a political background and as a Asian American I hope to get into office and do alot of community planning. I would be a good representative for Asian Americans; my goal one day is to become a mayor.

Do you keep in touch with your other alumni interns from your class or any class? I am still keep in touch with one of my fellow intern. His name is Patrick Shao, and if it wasn’t for CAPA I would have never met such a good friend.

Our hope in CAPA is to have our alumni interns be active participants in their communities and many have gone on to be leaders in their fields. But in addition to that, we hope that they continue to keep their ties with CAPA. In a scenario, if you become president of CAPA or the chair of the Ed Fund, what would you do to strengthen those bonds? CAPA is a well respected organization, I would definitely uphold all the traditions that it offers. I would always try to gain respect with my hard work, respect makes a good leader. As for the organization, gaining more supporters is key. With the support of others, CAPA would be one of the best Asian American organization.

If there was one thing you can contribute to further the promotion and education of Asian Pacific Americans in general, specifically the young folks, who are the next group of interns, what will that be with you as a mentor? I will tell them all about my experiences. Throughout the years, I have became more wise, and I have also gained a lot of knowledge on Asian Americans. It is important to stress how important it is to increase Asian American awareness.

What advice would you give to the next class in terms of expectations after they leave for college? Be ready to be responsible. Once you’re in college your practically on your own. Time management and organization is crucial.

Politics is in the news a lot especially with folks being either polarized to the point that civility is thrown out. Has that happened where you are and has there been an issue or issues that made you become more active in that cause or made you more critical in the debate of that said issue? This kind of issue has not happened yet, but I know Asian Americans today are still being oppressed. Although we are all equal the Asian American voice is not that powerful. That is why we need more Asian American organizations. Asian Americans needs to be a more powerful race in this world.

Imagine, 10 years from now, you’re in your 30’s, where do you see yourself, in terms of your involvement in public affairs? I see myself working and having a family. As I said before my goal in life is to become a mayor, and after being mayor I would like to move up to higher positions.

Okay, some fun stuff. Have you bumped into anyone well known up in Davis and the Sacramento area? I have met Justin Lin, he is the director of the movie Better Luck Tommorrow. It was nice meeting him, because it is good to know that there is someone out there trying to promote Asian American media, at the same time promoting Asian American awareness.

Finally, any final words to us that you would like to say? I hope my answers have been useful for this newsletter. And to all the new coming interns, good luck! I had a lot of fun doing it, and I know you will all have fun as well. CAPA is a great organization to be a part of. It would definitely open a lot of doors for you in the future.