AAPI culture was a new term for me. During high school, I didn’t know what AAPI culture meant. Quite frankly I was never concerned with it, as I had other priorities I pursued. The summer before the first day of college, I had promised myself to be more in touch with my Vietnamese culture, but doing so didn’t help me learn what AAPI culture was. That was until a friend provided me the opportunity to be a part of the Asian-American Cultural Center, or the AACC, at Rutgers. As part of the AACC, I learned so much about AAPI history in the United States, the accomplishments and tragedies AAPI-identified folk experienced, and the experiences they find today. One of the greatest pieces of information I learned during my time was the vast amount of experiences that existed in the community, and the uniqueness each experience had. Indian-Americans, Chinese-Americans, Hmong-Americans, each ethnic group in the United States have had stark differences in their experiences, from their arrival to the U.S. and the hardships they’ve faced in this country. From learning about these different experiences, our instructors aimed to teach us that the label “Asian-American” was not enough to describe the diverse Asian-American diaspora that the United States held, that the term does not do justice to explain the array of experiences many have experienced. To this day, whenever I’m asked what AAPI culture really means and why it exists, I always tell people that it’s a way to acknowledge the differences in experiences throughout the Asian-American community. AAPI culture allows us to acknowledge the differences, embrace them, and unites Asian-Americans closer to one another. My beginnings and education as a junior intern at the AACC inspired me to continue my involvement in the AAPI community that existed at Rutgers. I wanted to help be a leader within Rutgers’ student body and help provide back to the community. As part of the AACC, I continued my involvement with the department as a Senior Intern and now a building manager to help continue advertising the AACC and its mission statement, and educating those interested in learning more about AAPI culture and history. From creating infographics regarding some AAPI facts and cultural aspects, to participating in advertising AACC’s mission at first-year student programs on Rutgers, I’ve strived to help students be aware of the meaning of AAPI and how they can take part in learning more about it at Rutgers University. After my junior intern experience, I expanded my involvement in the AAPI community by joining the Vietnamese Student Association. Ever since freshman year, I was always grateful for being a part of VSA. I’ve met many wonderful friends and mentors who’ve taught me so much about being a leader in the Vietnamese community, and shared their experiences with being leaders in their VSA communities. I even took the time to attend many leadership events held by VSA regions all over North America to learn more about effective leadership from amazing individuals. Whether it was professional workshops, fun events or even social gatherings, I did my best to attend each event for it not only improved my soft skills as a student leader, but I found great enjoyment in participating. The sentiment continues to serve as motivation for myself to share the experience I’ve had with VSA to other students at Rutgers. The advice and stories I’ve been given has helped to improve my own leadership style and built upon my existing skills within the team. Nowadays, I’ve become more confident, organized, ambitious, and motivated as an individual and as a student leader. When I entered the AACC, I had no clue that AAPI culture even existed. Looking at myself now, I have a great motivation to teach other students what AAPI truly means, and hope that they themselves will get involved within the community during their time at college.