UIAAAN Newsletter - Summer edition June 30, 2016

UIAAAN Newsletter - Summer edition June 30, 2016 2016 UIAAAN Schoarship Recipients Matthew Jason Hom & Emily Rohman  UIAAAN President Ning Zulauf is flanked by the 2016 scholarship recipients Matthew Jason Hom and Emily Rohman     UIAAAN was proud to provide two $500 scholarships this year: to Matthew Jason Hom and Emily Rohman, both rising seniors. The scholarships were presented on Monday, April 26, 2016, at the 21st Annual Asian American Leadership Awards, held at the Alice Campbell Alumni Center on the UIUC campus in Urbana. Many thanks to our scholarship donors and support from the Asian American Culture Center. Matt currently is double majoring in Global Studies and Political Science. Emily is majoring in Community Health. See UIAAAN's interview with Matt to learn more about him. Featured  Alumna: Reena Bajowala Reena Bajowala, who obtained her Bachelor of Arts in English & Pre-Law from UIUC in 2001, is a partner in Jenner & Block’s Complex Commercial Litigation Department in Chicagoland. She is a great example of someone who has followed her passion and lived out her motto to “persevere despite the roadblocks that come your way.” Her Asian heritage, family education and Illinois experience have inspired her and shaped who she is today. More   Featured  Student: Sakshi Srivastava In this issue, meet Sakshi Srivastava, who obtained her Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from UIUC in 2015. She continues her passion in Electrical and Electronics Engineering as a graduate student (for a master's degree) and a research assistant at UIUC. Sakshi presented at TEDxUIUC: Uncharted this year to share her personal journey as an international student and how she overcame various challenges and kept a positive mindset. In addition, she understands the underrepresentation of women in science and has initiated the bringing of a female engineer statue to the UIUC Engineering Quad. More   Photo and video by: TEDxUIUC  UIAAAN News :New Board Members, Announcement, Mentoring We are grateful to annouce Miss Katie Jin has newly joined the UIAAAN Board to contribute to UIAAAN's human recource management. Call To Action from UI President Timothy Killeen The Illinois budget crisis has huge impacts from various perspectives. President Killeen encourages alumni to share their concerns with their local legislators to approve the state budget for fiscal 2016-2017 for public universities. You can support UIAAAN and UIAAAN scholarships with up to $50 by just simply applying for the Illini Card and mentioning UIAAAN as the promotion code! This program (see details at right) is provided by the Alumni Association and the U. of I. Community Credit Union (formerly the U. of I. Employees Credit Union) to support alumni clubs and groups. We thank you in advance. UIAAAN is going abroad! This year we are collaborating with the alumni leaders in China and Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA) for the first time ever, to have a student and alumni Meet-and -Greet gathering in China! See more details in programming below. Calling all small business owners in the U.S. to share your business website with UIAAAN for us to promote you on Small Business Day on November 28th in our Fall 2016 newsletter!! Contact us or send your URL to: uiaaan2010@gmail.com                                                               UIAAAN is relaunching its mentoring program! Whether you see yourself as a mentor or mentee, we want UIAAAN to help you reach out and receive or give help as needed. Contact Julian Ignacio at julianignacio2@gmail.com to get started or for more information.                                                              Club Highlights: Illinois Alumni Club of Beijing &  Chinese Language and International Development Society In this June 2016 newsletter, we are pleased to introduce you to the Illinois Alumni Club of Beijing (IACB), as described by its president, Marco Reyes (LAS ‘09), who works in Camp Education and volunteers with the club because he loves Illinois.  He says friends were his favorite part of U. of I., and he was part of Omega Delta Fraternity, AIESEC, Kolusis, and International Illini Club.  Read more Chinese Language and International Development Society (CLAID) is a newly established Registered Student Organization in 2015. The organization's goal is to build an intercultural environment for Chinese and domestic students to learn from each other. Read more   Illini in the News Did you know Taiwan’s new Premier Mr. Lin Chuan is a two-time U. of I. alumnus? Mr. Lin came to UIUC as a graduate student in Economics and obtained his Master of Science in 1982 and Doctor of Philosophy in 1984. Hanze Ying, a doctoral student in Materials Science and Engineering, is co-founder of Hindered Polyurea Technology and took first place in the 2016 Cozad New Venture Competition in University Resource Track Grand Prize awards. Upcoming Events- Mark Your Calendar! Saturday, July 9, 11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. Chicago, IL - 2016 Brunch Series, July  Saturday, July 9, 5:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m. Shenzhen, China - 2016 UIAAAN Summer Alumni and Student Meet & Greet with alumni in Shenzhen Saturday, August 6, Time: TBA. Shanghai, China - 2016 UIAAAN Summer Alumni and Student Meet & Greet with with Illinois Alumni Club of Shanghai  Recap Guangzhou Meet and Greet Thursday, June 30, 6:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m. Guanzhou, China - 2016 UIAAAN Summer Alumni and Student Meet & Greet with Illinois Alumni Club of Guanzhou      Image: Beijing Meet and Greet by Illinois Alumni Club of Beijing (IACB) Beijing Meet and Greet Saturday, June 25, Noon- 2 p.m. Beijing, China 2016 UIAAAN Summer Alumni and Student Meet & Greet with Illinois Alumni Club of Beijing Special thanks to Illinois Alumni Club of Beijing (IACB) president Marco Reyes (LAS ‘09) for collaborating with UIAAAN. About 20 alumni and students joined the event. According to Marco, the gathering was “small [and] intimate” and people had a great time. Dragon Boat Race Saturday, June 25th 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Ping Tom Park, Chicago The UIC Pyro Paddlers are back for their seventh year competing at the Chicago Dragon Boat Race for Literacy. The Pyro Paddlers are UIC students, staff, faculty and alumni who raced on Saturday, June 25th in Chinatown’s Ping Tom Park on the south branch of the Chicago River. Elvin Chan,  Assistant Director at the Asian American Resource and Cultural Center at UIC hopes UIUC alumni can team up next year to join the race! More Career Workshop Thursday, May 26, 2-4 p.m. Champaign, IL OPT Job Search Workshop Mr. Un Yeong Park at The Career Center at Illinois invited UIAAAN to co-host a workshop focusing on Optional Practical Training (OPT) for international students and alumni with F-1 visas. In addition to Mr. Harrison Ding, the founder and CEO of Multiple Listing Network Ltd. (MLN), Ms. Wen Zheng represented UIAAAN and drew upon her personal career development with students and young alumni.                                      Did you know UIAAAN has a Facebook Group!? If you are on Facebook, please join us and share your thoughts, events and news on our and UIAAAN Group page. Feel free to post and share anything you would like.      We encourage and nurture meaningful relationships to create a supportive community of Asian and Asian American alumni and students by providing comprehensive programming and opportunities that illustrate University of Illinois pride.     © 2016 University of Illinois Asian American Alumni Network