AAPI Spotlight – Asian Pharmacists Association

May 24, 2022 • Uncategorized

What does Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month mean to your organization?Apa Board

AAPI month is an opportunity for us to showcase our cultures and celebrate our roots. We hope to continue the tradition of hosting philanthropy events during the entire month to showcase and support Asian-based organizations. As our organization grows, we hope that our fundraisers will also develop into large-scale events!

In celebration of AAPI month, we are currently having a t-shirt fundraiser through May 31. The very start of our organization involved a philanthropy event, and we hope to keep the tradition alive. All proceeds from the t-shirt sales will be donated to Asian Americans for Equality (AAFE). Learn more about the fundraiser.

 

Tell us more about your organization.

The idea to start Asian Pharmacists Association came following the rise in violence against Asian Americans. After the shooting in Atlanta, we could no longer sit in silence and fear. We started a philanthropy event and raised over $1,000 for Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Atlanta. All donations received went directly to the victims and their families. We felt the need to start this organization because many of us didn’t have a platform to voice our thoughts.

Asian Pharmacists Association aims to grow the profession of pharmacy through the unity of many cultures and backgrounds at HSCCP and service to the community, focused on, but not limited to, those of Asian descent. Within our organization, we provide research, philanthropy, service learning, and collaboration opportunities to create an environment of well-rounded student pharmacists. We wanted to provide an avenue for pharmacy students interested in advocating for Asian Americans, experiencing Asian culture, and promoting Asian-awareness events.

 

What types of activities are you doing, and what has been your proudest moment as a new student organization? 

We create service-learning opportunities by collaborating with organizations such as the Colorful World Foundation and Hand-in-Hand. We organize care package fundraisers to give people the opportunity to experience Asian snacks. These care-package fundraisers were held once a semester on campus. We also emphasize the importance of research and try to promote scholarship to all APA members. This past school year, we were lucky to have Quang Nguyen as our Research Chair, and he gave a wonderful journal club presentation in both the fall and spring semesters. Younger members were able to get useful tips from P3 members, which will help them as they grow into future pharmacists.

APA celebrates its first “birthday” in May. Throughout this past year, we have accomplished a lot as one of the newest pharmacy studentApa Group With Wu organizations! My proudest moment would be during our end of the year social, where members gathered in a potluck style and played games. APA has come a long way, from two students reaching out to other Asian-interest student organizations into the burgeoning organization it is today, which culminated in the end-of-year social.

 

What or who has inspired your organization and/or you personally?

One of our biggest inspirations is Dr. Jin Liu, our faculty advisor. We reached out to her last year at the beginning stages of our organization, and she gave us the opportunity to participate in the cultural conversation hosted by the RISE team. During the spring semester, she gave a wonderful presentation on her struggles as an Asian American and how she has been working to overcome these challenges. Our other faculty advisor, Dr. Hongli Wu, has also been passionate about providing mentorship to members, guidance on achieving our goals as a young organization, and supporting our fundraisers. Dr. Wu even introduced to us her own mentor, Dr. Marjorie Lou, during a speaker event this past fall. APA is so lucky to have such involved and passionate faculty advisors!

We decided on starting the Asian Pharmacists Association through our search for an organization that would encompass all the ideas we wanted to carry out. Ultimately, we reached out to the original chapter at University of Illinois Chicago, College of Pharmacy, and they were more than happy to help us start the organization at our campus.

 

Connect with APA on Instagram: untscp_apa, or Facebook: UNTSCP APA

– Submitted by Vivian Woh, APA Founding Co-president