College

I had been promised that, if I chose to take APALI, I would be in for a life-changing experience. Through being active in student leadership at De Anza College, I had come across many APALI alumni who all had nothing but good to say about the program. Though most identified as API, there were several, non- API’s who told me that the things that they learned in APALI transcended race. Skeptical, yet curious, I decided to enroll my last quarter at De Anza. The first day, though fun, did little to ease my cynicism. I did not know what I would gain from the experience. As I looked around the classroom the first day, all I saw were young faces. A good majority of the class was comprised of high school students, ones who reminded me of the Asian kids my senior year who would simultaneously giggle at their bad driving and good grades, while continuing to ostracize my hijab wearing, non-Asian self. I was not eager to get to know people, and I became less and less sure of my APALI experience.
Today, six weeks later, I realized that I could not have been more wrong. More than anything, the speakers, lectures, videos, trips, etc (which were all excellent) the people who I got a chance to meet and get to know, have been the most valuable thing that I will take away from APALI. The icebreakers were a great way to get to know people on a superficial level, and the activities like the fishbowl were great for people to get to know each other on a much deeper level. I have grown to feel really close to my mentor group. We spent countless hours meeting up for reading discussions, group assignment meetings, late night Facebook chat sessions, chant making failures and all the stuff in between. I had known a few people going into APALI, and I had hoped to have been partnered with one or several of them. I am now really glad that I got the opportunity to know my group members and I can honestly state that the APALI Bandits are the best group (yay group one!) Our group had such a