By: Kate Bailly, Angelina Dang, Shreya Joshi, Isacc Keopaseuth, Drake Luong, Hlaw Meh, Janna Noori, and Olivia Tolpingrud. reflecting on the lessons we've learned and looking to what this next year will bring.If you could go back 365 days, what advice would you give to your past self based on what you've learned in 2022? Isacc (11th grade) 365 days ago today, I wish I had known that being “alone” is not a bad thing. In the months leading up to December 2021 and those to follow, I was forced to confront new emotions and experience an inner conflict. I wish I’d had the knowledge of that being alone, feeling different, and being the odd man out is okay. More importantly, I wish I had known how to accept and find comfort in what I experienced. Shreya (12th grade) If I could go back a year, I would tell myself to get organized but also to slow down and breathe. Senior year has been stressful because of the pressures of school, college and scholarships. Oftentimes, I felt like I was so behind I could never catch up. I think being proactive with organizing would be helpful, but at the same time, that feeling of being behind doesn’t go away no matter how organized you are. If I could go back a year, I would tell myself to remember to take a step back. Janna (10th grade) I would tell my past self to push outside of my comfort zone and take risks. Also to not care about what others think and to not stop myself from doing things just because someone might say something. Another thing I would tell myself is to live in the present and not worry so much about the past and future. To know what I want and not push away someone who actually cares about me for someone who couldn't care less. Hlaw (10th grade) I would say to have more trust in myself. Last year I noticed I began to rely on others to choose what was best for me. In recent months I've started doing things on my own, without being dependent on others. Things have started to take a turn for the better. I've learned many life lessons, experienced so many new things but I’ve also regretted many choices I’ve made because I was scared. But I recognize that I’ll always be scared of things, I’ll always regret the choices I made or didn’t make but I don’t regret the decisions I made when I trusted myself, and I’m still learning how to do that. Olivia (10th grade) I would say to prepare and make a plan for changes I’ll encounter. I think my past and present self would always worry about how others would perceive me so I would remind myself that it is not beneficial to change yourself to please others. There is a difference between adapting and redesigning yourself to fit in a mold that isn't made for you. My last piece of advice would be just to remember that you’ll figure it out eventually. Bad things are inevitable so really take the time to appreciate all of the different experiences and people around you instead of worrying about what might come. Live in the moment and take your own advice. Drake Luong (11th grade) One thing that I have learned over this past year is to not gauge my success in accomplishments but rather how I grew and learned. I think throughout this year I was stuck in this constant cycle of comparing myself to others, whether it was test scores, grades, scholarships, or internships. I realized that I shouldn't let other people's accomplishments make me feel insignificant, and how instead I should focus on doing things for myself. Angelina Dang (10th) I would tell myself that I cannot control different aspects of my life and that bad things that happen to me aren’t my fault. A lot of unexpected things have happened to me (which caused me to cry) and everytime it happens, I blame myself for it. I would ask myself “what if” questions with the mindset that it could have been prevented. But in reality it’s not. I can’t prevent bad things from happening to me, but I can change my mindset to handle the situation. Angelina, I know that you believe you have bad luck and you must have done something wrong, but you're trying your best to navigate this unknown world. It’s not your fault. Don’t waste your time and energy on “what if'' questions, instead use that time for yourself to relax and do things you love because you deserve it (although it’s ok to cry and be sad just don’t spend so much time dwelling on it). You're amazing and beautiful :) Kate Bailly, Violence Prevention Coordinator I don’t think I have advice that encapsulates all of the lessons I've learned and the experiences I’ve had from this year. But I would probably highlight the importance of advocating for yourself, professionally, socially, and medically. I also think I’d tell myself it’s okay to sit with uncomfortable emotions. And that it’s okay to step away, even when others don’t understand why. I’ve struggled a lot this year, and I haven’t spent much time processing all of it. I’ve learned there doesn’t always need to be a reason or logic for how we process our emotions and experiences. Sometimes they just need to exist as they are, and that’s okay. Reflecting briefly on what we’ve accomplished this year, what goals do you envision for Monsoon VPP in 2023? Isacc Keopaseuth (11th grade) For 2023, I think furthering interning opportunities for VPP staff would be a great goal/idea. We could look more into what the adults do around Monsoon such as the paperwork, legal work and more career exploration for VPP staff within monsoon. Shreya Joshi (12th grade) This year, we accomplished a really cool AAPI history curriculum that over 50,000 people had access too. We also transitioned to in person events and continued our blogging schedule. For 2023, I see Monsoon VPP continuing to blog but also expand our outreach so that more people can attend our events and access our content. Janna Noori (10th grade) I feel like we should make ourselves more known. That way, we can have more participation and we can collaborate and host events with more people. Olivia Tolpingrud (10th grade) The main goals I think would be best to focus on would be to prioritize community outreach, event promotion, and event organization through using our social media more and attending more youth events to get more involved. Drake Luong (11th) A lot has happened this year at Monsoon from new VPP interns, moving back into in-person work, and community events. We have all learned and grown from each other over the course of this year, and I'm excited to see what we can accomplish in 2023. I hope we host more events at the Bahn Hao and do more outreach work with our community. Angelina Dang (10th) Monsoon has accomplished many amazing things such as hiring new staff, creating different events, renovating Bahn Hao and starting a girls group. For 2023, I hope we can continue outreach to youths and work on projects with groups from different schools. Kate Bailly, Violence Prevention Coordinator At the start of the year, I didn’t expect to transition into a new job as quickly as I did. While at Monsoon, I’ve been able to grow a team of incredible and vibrant youth staff and accomplish goals that seemed out of reach. I am proud of the projects we have seen all the way through to the end. I hope to continue growing, learning, and connecting as a team and within our community. This year, be content in the fact that despite the challenges and barriers, there were many lessons learned and many more to come in 2023. As we learn and reflect, we can meet our goals and create new ones too. Happy New Year from Monsoon VPP!
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Year ARchive
February 2023
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