APAICS | Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies

What A Wonderful World

by Lin Rui Li, 2010 APAICS Intern

My name is Lin Rui [lin-ray] Li.  Rui is not a neglected middle name, but a crucial second half of my first name.  I have not mastered how to confront wrongsayers of my name in person, but I was advised by the Honorable Tammy Duckworth, Assistant Secretary of the Office of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) , to tell it as it is to the right people and eventually, everyone will get it.  The World Wide Web seemed an appropriate person to tell.

I don’t know how to thank APAICS, the VA, and everyone who made it possible for me to be in DC enough for the opportunity to be the luckiest intern of the summer.  These past eight weeks have been the most incredible experience of my life; no day was ever boring and every week felt like one amazing, hectic day. I have seen and been exposed to enough new experiences to last me till next summer (when I come back)!

“I came to DC not knowing what to expect”—a first-time intern’s favorite line.  But really, coming from Hawaii, a twelve hour plane ride with 2 transfer points across the country, I had no idea what I was in for. I had been imagining a giant bubbled off city, highly air conditioned, beautiful green trees everywhere surrounded by men and women in black, blue, and khaki suits, and blue skies every day. You can imagine my shock at the actual scalding heat with the occasional random thunderstorms, and casually dressed professionals on the streets everyday.  You mean I didn’t have to spend 1/5 of my stipend on a new suit?

The Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) issues I was presented with via various conferences and presentations put together by AAPI organizations such as APAICS, Conference on Asian Pacific American Leadership (CAPAL), and Asian & Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund (APIASF), were the biggest surprises for me.  These issues included health care disparities in the AAPI community, the scarcity of AAPI educators, the negative effects of being the “model minority”  on AAPI students, and the lack of AAPI politicians.  I was born in China and raised in Hawaii.  I now attend a small liberal arts college in the San Francisco Bay Area.  Nothing in my upbringing exposed me to these issues—how could Asian Americans, the majority class in these areas, have to experience these types of problems? Even after this experience, these difficulties for AAPIs are only ideas to me; I still have not seen these problems first hand.  I can’t wait to get out more into the world to learn and see more so that I will be able to find better solutions to help. 

My summer has been a gigantic science experiment—so many things have happened to and around me.  These events have stirred different emotions and picked different parts of my brain.  I have no regrets, but I am sad to say goodbye. I have been privileged to meet so many incredible individuals—correction: I have been privileged that everyone I have met has been so incredible. 

I’ll never forget the people who have touched my life this summer: the Honorable Tammy Duckworth, VA Assistant Secretary OPIA, the Honorable Eric K. Shinseki, VA Secretary, Norman Mineta, Former U.S. Secretary of Transportation and Former U.S. Secretary of Commerce, Senator Daniel Akaka (D-HI), Senator Daniel Inouye (D-HI), Senate President Pro-Tempore,  and many, many more persons, from government officials to foreign dignitaries and my fellow interns. Hopefully I have made some mark in this city, but if not, like I said, I’ll be back.

Goodbye Washington, DC, until next time!

Lin Rui Li is a 2010 APAICS Summer Intern at the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Intergovernmental Affairs. She is currently studying International Relations and Economics with a minor in Mathematics as a rising sophomore at Mills College.