Korean American and other Asian students had an opportunity to learn about the value of higher education, connect with mentors, and get mental health counseling all in one place.
McDonald’s hosted its annual APA Next education summit for Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) students at Emerson College’s Los Angeles campus on November 16. More than 200 students and parents attended the event, which is in its fifth year. The event was live streamed from the Boston campus for broader participation.
Students and parents who attended received information about higher education as well as mental health support. Attendees were able to connect with mentors at a community fair, career coaching from Signet Education, a book signing with author Susan Park, and mental health support programs from the Yellow Chair Collective.
The summit’s key sessions included “The Hidden Curriculum,” which explored the cultural and systemic challenges AAPI students face, and “The Impact of Education,” which highlighted the personal and community impact of higher education.
The sessions were moderated by Hollywood actress Ming-Na Wen and Ramona Young, star of Netflix’s Never Have I Ever.
“The key to overcoming identity confusion is to keep it simple and move forward,” said Wen, ”and I hope that as Asian cultures like K-pop and J-pop become more mainstream, there will be more opportunities for AAPI students.”
In the “Hidden Curriculum” session, panelists included Signet Education CEO Shiela Akbar and McDonald’s Asian Pacific Islander American (APIA) Scholars Daisy Panhilason and Emily Truong. Panhilason, who went from homelessness to studying nursing at the University of Nevada through the scholarship, stressed the importance of scholarships.
To a question about how to find your passion, she said, “Everyone finds their passion at different times,” and advised, “You have to find your goals at your own pace instead of being impatient.”
Another scholarship recipient, Truong, a Vietnamese American, shared her tips for winning scholarships, saying, “It’s important to search, search, search, and have a lot of resources,” and that “actively seeking information is the key to success.”
In the “The Impact of Education” session, Norbert Tan, director of the AAPI Equity Alliance, and Korean-American author Susan Park spoke on a panel to emphasize the importance of higher education. In response to a student’s question about choosing between college and a job after high school, Park said, “Although my education was different from my current career as a writer, as I majored in accounting at UCLA MBA after graduating from Columbia, my higher education experience greatly inspired my current life as a writer.”
After the event, attendees participated in seminars on how to write college essays, how to plan and prepare for college admissions, and how to manage mental health. Booths included career coaching from Signet Education, a book signing by author Susan Park, and mental health counseling from Yellow Chair Collective.
“For AAPI students, academic stress often stems from family and cultural factors,” said Soo Jin Lee, therapist at Yellow Chair Collective, ”and we wanted to provide ways to alleviate that stress at this event.”
“I came with my parents and younger brother to prepare for the early decision,” said Jaehui Lee, an 11th grader at Anderson Clark Magnet High School, “and I was happy to get different perspectives to help ease the pressure of college.”
“We hope that this summit will help AAPI students gain equal access to education and take the first step toward a successful future,” said a McDonald’s representative, pledging continued support.
The summit’s key panel sessions will be available for viewing in Korean on the Korea Daily’s YouTube channel from late November until January 15, 2025. For more information, visit APA Next at APANext.com.
BY GYEONGEUN PARK, HOONSIK WOO [woo.hoonsik@koreadaily.com]
