AlexisJungSuh College WordCount:1388 AtlantaAsianAmericanCollegeFairhasaSuccessfulSecondYear The2013AtlantaAsianAmericanCollegeFair(AAACF)hostedbytheKoreaDailyand McDonaldsdrewinover2,000attendeesOctober19providinginformationaboutcollegesand careersfromexperts. The2013CollegeFairstartedintheChapelwithfourkeynotespeakers.Theeventbegan at10:00a.m.,andpeoplecontinuedtotrickleinthroughouttheentiretime.Soonmanyhadno placetositintheChapel,andbegantostandalongthesides.TheChapelusuallyseatsa maximumof400people. Manyhighschoolstudentswereseensittingnexttoaparent,occasionallybuttingheads toconverseandlaugh.Manyparentsattendedontheirowninsteadoftheirchildbecause,as oneparentputsit,mydaughterhadaschooleventtoattend.Shesreallytheonethatneedsto behere.Ireallywishshewashere.

here. AmongtheattendeeswereGeorgiaHouseofRepresentativesPedroMarinandBonnie Youn,founderofYounLawGroupandpreviousguestspeakeroftheAAACF. ThefirsttospeakwasJudgeCarlaWongMcMillian,thefirstAsianAmericanstate appellatejudgeintheSoutheast.JudgeMcMillianacknowledgedapressuretoblendinexisted inAsianculturesandthatwehadperfectedtheartofpassing.Sheurgedtheyouthto overcometheseassumptionsaboutyou.ShespokethatasanAsianAmericanwoman,people assumeshewouldbequietandshy. Aleaderisnotjustatitle,itsahardworker,JudgeMcMilliansaid.ShecalledoutAsian Americansontheirlackofparticipationinpublicserviceandcommunityservice,saying speakingupisarequirement. ThenDavidKim,founderandCEOofC2Educationrosetothepodium.Kimspokeabout thelostcharacteristicsbesidespracticethatleadstosuccess.Theseotherseven characteristicsincludedasenseofgratitude,selfcontrol,socialintelligence,passion,optimism, curiosityandperseverance. Heexpressedgratitudetowardshisparentsforinstillingmanyofthesecharacteristicsin himandaskedtheotherparentsintheroomtodothesame.Hedidnotbelittletheimportanceof practicehowever,butsaidthereareotherimportantaspectstosuccessAsianparentsseemsto missouton.

McDonaldssponsoredspeaker,AnnieWangspokenextinaQ&AformwithThienKim, anonlineblogger,withquestionstweetedto#myinspirasian.AnnieWangisacofounder,CPO andCreativeDirectorofHerCampus,thenumberoneonlinecommunityforcollegewomen. Wangaskedstudentsnottofallintothetrapoftryingtobeperfectinallthattheydo. Insteadshesaidforstudentstoreallyfocusonacouplethingsthattheyareinterestedinandare goodat.Forher,itwasgraphicdesign,Wangsaid.Shealsoexpandeduponherparents supportofherdecisions,eventakingaleaveofabsencefromHarvard,andhowcrucialtheir supportwasinhersuccess. AGMCollegePlanningPresident,RichardMyungwasthelasttospeakintheChapel.He focusedonthefinancialplanningaspectofthecollegeapplicationprocess,withhisexpertisein thematter.AGMCollegePlanningalsohadaseriesofseminarsconductedinKorean.These seminarswereextremelypopular.Parentscontinuedaskingquestionswellaftertheofficialtime oftheseminarhadended. AfterthekeynotespeakersweredonewiththecrowdwasdismissedintotheMainHall, whereboothsawaitedthem.Attendeeshadaccesstotheboothsandvolunteersthroughoutthe remainderoftheevent. Boothsincludedawidevarietyofinstateandoutofstatecolleges.Collegessuchas GeorgiaPerimeterCollegeandValdostaStateUniversityhadofficialrepresentativesavailablefor moreformalinformationabouttheschool,whileKennesawStateUniversityandGeorgiaTech hadcurrentstudentscomeouttospeaktoprospectivestudentsgivingmoreexclusiveinformal information.HarvardUniversity,UniversityofAlabama,BerryCollegeandWesleyanCollege werealsoamongthemanyschoolsrepresented.Otherboothswerefromsponsors,suchas DaveandBusters,withcoupons.McDonaldssetupastationwithtouchscreensforfreebiesin alargecorner. Asthetimedrewneartothefirstseminar,peoplewantedtospendmoretimespeaking oneononetotheserepresentatives.Itwasdifficulttoescorttheattendeesintotheseminar rooms.Multipleannouncementsabouttheseminarshadtobemadetopryawaystudentsand parentsfromthebooths. Icamehereknowingthebasics,butIlearnedalotofspecificshere.Evenwhenyouask olderstudentsatchurch,theygiveyoubroadadvice,buthere,Ilearnedalotofnewthings,said AustinKo,aJunioratSprayberryHighSchool.Henotedtheseminarswerebeneficialingiving outpracticalandspecifictipsonapplyingtocolleges. Elevendifferentseminarswerealsoavailablethroughouttheevent.Therewerethree sessionsofseminars,separatedintofourrooms.WhiletheAGMCollegePlanningseminars wereconductedinKorean,allotherswereinEnglish.TheWritingaWinningEssayseminar drewanincrediblenumberofattention,withstudentsandparentsspillingoutintothehallto

listentothetalk. JimNarangajavanagaveapracticalpresentationcalledCollegeAdmission:Tipsfroma HarvardGrad,showingthestepbystepprocessofapplyingtocollegeswithpersonaltipsalong theway.CollegestudentswereabletolistentoHanC.ChoipresenttheGood,theBadandthe Uglyoflawschool.Choiintertwinedhispersonalstorywithcurrentstatisticsandgavean insiderslookonthecurrentjobmarketoflawyers.Studentswereabletospeaktoapanelof GatesMillenniumScholars,whotoldtheirstoriesofhowtheycametoreceivethescholarship. IwishwehadsomethinglikethiswhenIwasgrowingup.Forme,Ijusthadtofigure everythingout,saidSamYang,athirdyearstudentatEmoryUniversityandGatesMillennium Scholar.Hementionedalthoughtherewerecollegefairstoattend,itwasgoodtoseeacollege fairdirectedtowardsAsianAmericansspecifically. Yangwasnottheonlyonewhothoughtthisway.WhenIwasgrowingup,therewas nothinglikethis,saidRayShin,avolunteeratoneofthebooths.HeexpressedthatKorean parentsdontreallyknowwhatgrowingupinthestatesislike,andtheyhavemisconceptions. HesaidhehopedthisAAACFwouldfirstfocusonfixingthesemisconceptionsofparents,and thenfocusongettingstudentstheinformationtheyneedtosucceed. Forsome,theeventdidnotprovideinformationthattheyneeded.ChristinaShin,said shehopedtherewouldbemoreinformationtargetedtowardsamorewiderangeofstudents. ShinisaSeniormajoringinManagementattheUniversityofGeorgia.Shesaidalthoughthe eventisacollegefairtargetedtowardshighschoolers,thehostsshouldtakeintoconsideration siblingsthatmightcomealongwhomightbeofcollegeage.ShindidmentiontheYourGuideto LawSchoolseminarwashelpful,butshewishedthereweremoreseminarslikeit. Herbrother,RogerShin,aSenioratSouthForsythHighSchoolagreed,sayingwhilethe informationheheardwouldhavebeenbeneficialtohimayearago,therewasnotmuchtohelp himnowthathewasasenior. Itisgoodthatsomethinglikethisishappening,butalotofparentneedtocometoo.But theycant,saidSamLee,ayouthgroupvolunteer.Hesuggestedchangingthetimeoftheevent toalatertime,sothatparentswhoworkcouldalsoattendtheevent. TheAAACFhasimprovementstomake.Manysaidorganizationwasoneoftheevents weakpoints.Thekeynotespeakersportionoftheeventwentovertime,soseminarspeakersand attendeeswereconfusedastowhentheseminarportionofthedaybegan.Afewgrumbledthat theyweretoldtherafflewastobeat2:00p.m.,buttheymisseditbecauseitwasactually conductedat1:30p.m. Firstofitskind,acollegefairdirectedtowardsAsianAmericans,AAACFneedsthese beneficialcriticismstolistentoandtoimproveforthefollowingyears.ThisyearsAAACFdrewin

moreattendeesthanthelast.Withthehopesofprovidingmorebeneficialinformationtothe AsianAmericanyouthinAtlanta,therewillbemoretargetedseminarsandamoreorganized schedulenextyear.