• Name: Michelle Oh

• School: Columbia University

• Location: New York, N.Y.

• Major: East asian languages and cultures

• Year: Senior

College is often a time for experimentation, for all kinds of “firsts,” and Michelle is spending her final year as the first female president of the student body. While she has been involved in student government since middle school, she does admit that it is “certainly a very different scale” leading the Columbia College Student Council.

Michelle has taken to heart the advice to be involved as much as you can when you’re off at college. She has also been busy the last three years with the Korean Students Association, the Chinese Students Club, writing for the campus newspaper, the Spectator, and directing Lunar Gala, the annual culture night. “It was my involvement in these student groups that enabled me to understand a lot of the concerns and issues facing student groups in such a way that I can effectively navigate through and address the issues now as president,” says Michelle.

So she has a lot planned for this year, including fulfilling her campaign pledges to reduce textbook costs and establish an international alumni database. But Michelle is also looking to the future. With dreams of being a journalist, she has held down various internships, her most recent one with CNN in Beijing.

• Name: David Shin

• School: University of Illinois at Chicago

• Location: Chicago, Ill.

• Major: Political Science

• Year: Senior

David hasn’t graduated from college yet, but he carries the badge of a veteran. Before 9-11, he joined the U.S. Army Reserves to help pay for college, but soon found himself deployed to the Middle East where he was with some of the first forces to invade Iraq. After spending 225 days in Iraq and Kuwait, David came home safe and sound and with a renewed sense of involvement.

Upon his return, David became increasingly concerned with the apathy of his fellow Asian Americans, particularly Korean Americans, at his university and in the surrounding area of Chicago.

“I noticed the lack of voice and representation [of] Korean Americans at UIC,” he says. “Moreover I noticed how this translated over to our community. The second generation was a force not only untapped, but nonexistent.”

He founded KAUSE (Korean Americans United Serving Equality), which collaborates with the community to organize voter registration drives, cultural events, poetry slams and more.

Michelle Oh

David is also involved in other panels and committees to further Asian American causes. His experiences in the military have now become overshadowed by his political grassroots involvement.

The future, to David, means further opportunities to flex his muscles as a humble public servant.

• Name: Esther Cho

• School: Duke University

• Location: Durham, N.C.

• Major: International Comparative Studies; Minor: Chemistry

• Year: Senior

When most seventh-grade girls were stressed about boys and homework, Esther was dealing with life or death issues. In 1996, she was diagnosed with lupus, a disease in which the immune system loses its ability to distinguish between foreign substances and a body’s own cells and tissue. For a 13-year-old, having to regularly receive blood and urine check-ups and take medication was a frightening experience.