#AdoptASenior Campaign
Not Your Average Mai is thinking of all of the high school seniors who've been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. For many, it would've been their first senior prom and for others, the first in their family to graduate from high school. As a way to celebrate these graduating high school seniors, schools across the nation instituted an "Adopt a Senior" program to give students an alternative experience/gift to these missed milestones. To support this cause and give back to our community, NYAM co-hosts decided to adopt and celebrate four Southeast Asian American high school seniors.
With the generous support of our community members who matched and/or doubled our donations, we were able to raise an additional $700, allowing us to give $50 gift cards to 18 high school students in total!
See below to learn about the 18 recipients and their post-graduation plans.
Holly Thao
North High School | Wisconsin
Post-Graduation Plans: Attend Lakeland University
Linda Phan
Garfield High School | Washington
Post-Graduation Plans: Attend Pomona College
What does your Southeast Asian heritage or identity mean to you?
When I entered high school, I was finally out of the clutches of APP. I started to see past the sugar-coated narratives of Vietnamese history in textbooks, and understand systematic oppression and self-empowerment. I embraced activism, reclaimed my power, and recognized why growing up in a predominantly white and upper-class environment harmed my perception of myself. I started speaking Vietnamese, practiced traditional Vietnamese dance, became the president of my school’s Vietnamese Student Association, and am a model in a city-wide Vietnamese fashion show. For the first time in my life, I don’t feel forced to stifle my Vietnamese culture to be American.
Han Jade Ngo
North Salinas High School | California
Post-Graduation Plans: Attend University of California, Berkeley
What does your Southeast Asian heritage or identity mean to you?
Being Southeast Asian means learning how to be an advocate for myself and my family. It is difficult to navigate through the oppression put against us: social, institutional, financial, and educational. Due to the Asian model minority myth, thousands of cultures are packed into a single description: the American Dream Achievers, otherwise known as perfect and independent. This truly disregards everyone’s special culture and puts high expectations on all Asians, especially Southeast Asians who face different experiences. And ironically, our only tool happens to be the one that is hardest to use: our voice. After years of silence embedded in our survival instincts, we now have to learn how to break that silence in order to receive the help we need. Being Southeast Asian means learning new survival skills, and that is learning how to speak up.
Sarina Sophana Peng
Johnson Senior High School | Minnesota
Post-Graduation Plans: Attend Century College [Sarina plans to earn her Associate’s degree in Nursing and transfer to a four-year college for her Bachelor’s degree.]
What is one accomplishment you are most proud of from your senior year of high school?
My proudest accomplishment was making 1st place with the varsity volleyball team at the Columbia Heights tournament. I say this because a lot of people doubted us and thought we weren't good enough because we lost more than half our team when the class of 2019 graduated. It was really great to finally bring the trophy back to school and we proved everyone wrong! We had a lot of negative things said to the team but we were actually pretty good. Winning 1st place in the tournament would be my proudest accomplishment.
Linda Lor
Johnson Senior High School | Minnesota
Post-Graduation Plans: Attend Macalester College
What is one accomplishment you are most proud of from your senior year of high school?
One accomplishment I am most proud of from my senior year is my 45+ page comic book called Ntxhais. I started writing it in August and finished it in January-- totaling 80 hours of script writing, storyboarding, and drafting.
This is my biggest accomplishment from senior year because it pushed my boundaries as a cartoonist. This is my 1st self published comic and my very first comic that has a start and end! In addition, I got to learn more about the comic writing process-- like script writing.
I also am most proud of this accomplishment because it is unique to my identity. As a Hmong American girl, I often feel undervalued by the Hmong community and culture. Using this comic as an outlet for my voice and identity pushed me to learn and honor new things about myself. It has also taught me how to love my Hmong culture more-- even when, sometimes, it does not share the same respect for men to women.
Yulai Lia Herr
Johnson High School | Minnesota
Post-Graduation Plans: Attend University of Minnesota
What is one accomplishment you are most proud of from your senior year of high school?
During my senior year, I’ve been accepted to do full time PSEO at 2 different universities, the University of Northwestern and Bethel University. I am most proud of completing my courses and gaining the college experience before college! This has allowed me to explore different universities!
Gao Sheng Thao
Harding High School | Minnesota
Post-Graduation Plans: Attend St. Olaf College
Nouky Thao
El Capitan High School | California
Post-Graduation Plans: Attend Merced College with a major in Criminal Justice [Nouky hopes to become a correctional officer one day.]
What is one accomplishment you are most proud of from your senior year of high school?
My one accomplishment this year that I am most proud of was that I passed high school. I was never really a good student in school but this year was my last year of high school so I told myself that I would pass my classes this year. My high school years have been some of the best and worst years. It also went by in a flash. It felt like just yesterday I was stepping into high school as a freshman, now I will be walking on that stage and receiving my diploma.
Veronica M. Vang
Florin High School | California
Post-Graduation Plans: Attend California State University, Sacramento
What does your Southeast Asian identity mean to you?
I am Hmong and we cannot be forgotten. I will live to tell and practice our traditions, show and mentor our younger generations and children’s [generations]. I will teach our culture a better way that is fair to both men and women. I want men and women to be equal with no differences.
Esha Kalia Lee
Stanly Early College High School | North Carolina
Post-Graduation Plans: Attend Wingate University with a major in Finance
What does your Southeast Asian identity mean to you?
I am Hmong. There are still times that I end up telling the entire Hmong history in five minutes to someone who has never known a Hmong person. My Hmong heritage means that my people will stop at nothing to get what they want. We’ve crossed rivers, fought wars, and survived in an entirely different country for freedom. Thus, I will persevere through every hardship and obstacle in order to achieve my dreams.
Brianna Vang
Johnson Senior High School | Minnesota
Post-Graduation Plans: Attend Bethel University
Shaelynn Vang
Redwood High School | California
Post-Graduation Plans: Attend California State University, Fresno with a major in Biology [Shaelynn plans to attend pharmacy school afterwards.]
What does your Southeast Asian identity mean to you?
To me, my Southeast Asian heritage means so much to me because it reminds me that we must preserve our cultural traditions and native language in a nation that is known as the “melting pot,” which is vital and essential to keeping the Hmong heritage alive through future generations. There are many forms of preserving heritage, whether it be by storytelling, art, and more. It is necessary to be preserved so it may lead to a path of progress and prosperity for the Hmong people.
To me, my Hmong culture resides in the hearts and souls of its own people because so much of our future lies within preserving our history. People may come and go, but heritage will live on forever if we remember our ethnic roots.
Yao Vapa Thao
Johnson Senior High School | Minnesota
Post-Graduation Plans: Attend Saint Catherine University
What does your Southeast Asian identity mean to you?
My ethnicity is Hmong. I was born in Thailand in 2002, shortly after my family got the opportunity to come to America where we, the Hmong people can start fresh and get a free education. After the Secret War the Hmong were scattered everywhere in the world. There is Hmong in Asia, Australia, Europe, Canada, and the United States. This shows that Hmong people can go anywhere and they can adapt to change. In the old days when the Hmong lived in the mountains, they were able to be creative with their findings in the woods. This is what I am, a Hmong girl that can go anywhere and will make the best out of what I have.
Makayla Her
Brown Deer Middle/High School | Wisconsin
Post-Graduation Plans: Attend Mount Mary University
Jessica Jalia Yang
Cosumnes Oaks High School | California
Post-Graduation Plans: Attend California State University, Sacramento
What does your Southeast Asian identity mean to you?
My Southeast Asian heritage means a lot to me. As a Hmong-American, I take pride in my own heritage because we worked hard to get to where we are today. Many of us are losing grasp of our own culture, tradition, and even ability to speak/write/read in our own native language. However, for me I can proudly say being Hmong makes me different from the rest because I still hold strong onto my feathers that were given to me from birth. The beauty of being Hmong is that despite all the struggles and losses we went through to get to America, we are bold and brave to continue to fight for a land that will keep ourselves and our family safe. This still holds strong to us until today because we will continue to fight for our safety and comfort of our home.
Duabci Jasmine Lao
Rio Linda High School | California
Post-Graduation Plans: Attend California State University, Chico
Vian Tran
Pine Bush High School | New York
Post-Graduation Plans: Attend SUNY New Paltz with a major in Biology [Vian plans to become a pediatric psychiatrist.]
Michelle Paj Fuab Her
Duncan Poly Technical High School | California
Post-Graduation Plans: Attend Fresno City College [Michelle plans to make her way to California State University, Fresno to accomplish her Bachelor’s degree in Nursing and become a certified Hmong medical terminology translator.]
Thank you to our generous community sponsors!
Sid Agarwal | Anya Fang | Nick Lee | Joanna Lu | Pang Dao Moua |
Nou Vang | Nancy Xiong | Nkauj Iab Yang | Janie Yin | Two Anonymous Donors