一项塑造公民参与之未来的活动 —- APAPA Ohio夏季实习培训总结

殷余民

How One Organization is Shaping the Future of Civic Engagement

May 30, 2018 Gwynedd Cowan

It is no big secret that active civic participation is a critical part of American democracy. While there has been a decline in civic engagement in recent years, the Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs organization, APAPA, has made its mission to increase civic engagement, and in the Asian Pacific Islander community especially.

This year, APAPA has created an internship program to develop political awareness and civic engagement, educate students in government and legislative processes, cultivate professional and leadership qualities, and prepare students in becoming future leaders.

"As a prominent national organization with a mission to inspire, engage, and empower the public, especially the API community regarding public policy, APAPA strives to grow API youth into future leaders," APAPA Ohio Youth Program Chair, Dr. Qiu explains. "The APAPA internship program manifests that belief and optimism in our youth. Our summer internship aims to provide our youth with great experiences and exposure to all levels of government functions and inner workings."

Through this program, Ohio students have the opportunity to intern at various offices within the state government such as the Franklin Country Recorder Office, Department of Public Health, Municipal Housing Court, and State Legislature Offices.

In preparation for these exciting opportunities, the student interns taking part in the summer program participated in APAPA training for their various government internships. Owing to the interactive and hands on nature of the training, the participants were able gain a greater understanding of what would be expected of them individual internships. The training did an excellent job encompassing a variety of topics such as professionalism, team work, public speaking, and how to plan for success.

A few examples of the trainings many highlights include an exercise in which the students were given two minutes to create a 30 second speech introducing themselves, as well as a talk on "How to Succeed in Your Internship". Through these activities, in addition to the many other points covered, the participants were able to practice effective communication, creating S.M.A.R.T goals, and making good impressions.

Thanks to APAPAs training, each student has acquired a new tool set and is fully equipped to enjoy the adventures awaiting them in their individual internships beginning this June.