Michelle Lau, a senior majoring in psychology and interaction design, discusses her campus involvements, people that inspire her and why she believes it's important to celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month.
Q: What are you involved in on campus?
A: I used to be the president of the Asian Student Association (ASA). I'm the senior advisor now, but I've had multiple roles within the organization. Previously, I was the director of programming (DOP), so I did the programs, and public relations, so the flyers, reaching out to other orgs and [communications]. Outside of that, I'm the student operations services coordinator in Seneca Hall, so I work behind the desk and make the schedules. I'm also involved in the campus community council, so I'm the secretary for that.
Q: Who is a notable person in the AAPI community that you admire?
A: This person isn't necessarily from history, because I feel like in school, they didn't really touch on AAPI history as much, but I feel like [the entertainment industry] has been getting better at representing Asian celebrities. Michelle Yeoh, she won the Oscar for "Everything Everywhere All at Once," and I find that pretty spectacular. She's the first Asian woman [and person] to win [best actress] at the Oscars.
Q: Who are some mentors in your life you look up to and why?
A: My friends back home. I look up to them in a way and they are kind of my inspiration. They are also Asian women, not that that matters, we just happen to be friends, but just knowing that they have goals and things that they want to accomplish in life inspires me to work and do better, and I know that I can trust their opinions and that they want the best for me too. Katherine Speed, my manager when I work at the [residence] halls, is great. She's very uplifting and someone I personally look up to. I feel like there's always been phases of my life where I've looked up to a certain person, whether it's personally or professionally. From high school, I was interning with a start-up company, Zette, and Yehong Zhu was my internship supervisor... She was part of the AAPI diaspora, and it was a great opportunity to see someone who was a professional, had a good professional history and was able [to be successful] in upper management.
Q: Why is AAPI Heritage Month important to you?
A: There really isn't much Asian representation, so having this month specifically established for AAPI representation is important. A lot of people don't really identify with being AAPI. You can fall under that, but your identity is more specific, like I'm Chinese-American. AAPI is more of a broader term, but I think it's important to have to acknowledge and show appreciation for the Asian community. You wouldn't really think of it as much if you were in an Asian country, but being in a place where we are a minority, knowing that it's there and feeling like we're part of a collective group even if you don't identify particularly with AAPI, you can still be like, "I know I'm a part of that." We all have different but shared experiences.