ECAASU Experience Blog
This was my second year attending the ECAASU conference and it was once again, a very rewarding experience as I learned even more about the AAPI community, the issues that concern that community, but also how and why those same issues concern everyone else. It was a great experience to be able to sit in at the different workshops and interact with people of many different backgrounds, while still connecting over similar experiences. For me, it really is great to be able to see how different we all because of our cultures and backgrounds, yet at the same time, how similar we are because of the intersectionalities between our cultures.
Not being part of the AAPI community myself, and rather from the Hispanic-Latino community, I found that everyone at the conference was extremely welcoming. When I met other students they were just as interested in learning about my culture, my community’s issues, and me as I was about them. I realized that in this conference I would have the chance to not just learn about the AAPI community, but about my own as well because many of the issues that concern the AAPI community are relatable to my own experiences as a Latina in the U.S.
I thoroughly enjoyed the 3 workshops that I attended, although I can say that the most impactful one was about being able to share our stories and transform them into powerful tools of action. I learned here that everyone has a story, everyone has had a different struggle, a different experience throughout life while trying to follow their dreams, but we are all similar in the aspect of how determined we all are to succeed and create positive, sustainable change in our communities.
Overall, ECAASU was once again a great learning experience, and if I had the chance again, I would love to attend again because every year the workshops are different and offer so much educational value. ECAASU really is an amazing experience, I would encourage anyone who has not gone before to attend in future years!
Rubi Escalona
