C.A.C.A. Portland Lodge held its annual awards and recognition program virtually on June 5, 2022.

2022 National Essay Contest

This year 62 local students applied for our scholarships or participated in the National Essay Contest. This year the essay contestants were asked to write a 500-word essay on the topic of ethnic studies, and whether it should be a high school requirement. Portland Lodge judged 12 local contestant essays and selected these three winners - Sofia Megert, Kim Tu, and Yan-Hong Jeremy See. C.A.C.A. is proud of these student contestants for stepping forward and expressing their thoughts on this subject matter.

Fred G Lee Memorial Scholarship Recipients

Jenny Duan is a graduate of Jesuit High School and will attend Stanford University majoring in symbolic systems. The symbolic systems program integrates knowledge from diverse fields of study including: computer science, linguistics, mathematics, philosophy, psychology, and statistics. Jenny is a four-year attendee of the Asian- American Youth Leadership Conference, which cultivates community and youth leadership for Asian youth across Oregon. Having grown up in Portland, she has observed the growing homeless situation, and notices this problem is largely ignored. Jenny states “alongside my growing interest in computer science, I have developed a strong sense of justice. My service inspires me to pursue an education in Symbolic Systems in college, to create ethical technology solutions to solve our world's most pressing problems, including but not limited to poverty, homelessness, and climate change. It is my greatest hope that, through these pursuits, I can align the rapidly evolving path of technological development with one of social good.”

Aaron Li will be attending Vanderbilt University. He is a graduate of Sunset High School.   While in high school Aaron volunteered his time and efforts towards many community   affairs. He states “My volunteering and community service have led me to study Public Policy in college to pursue a career of public service. I hope to specialize in climate policy, in which I can use my knowledge to help communities tackle environmental racism. Oftentimes, low-income communities and communities of color lack the political clout to push their issues onto the public policy agenda, and I hope to change that.”

Vy Vo graduated from Leodis V. McDaniel High School and will attend the University of Portland. Her area of interest is in the healthcare field. Vy is interested in science and found herself drawn to many medical related programs. While watching healthcare providers perform their work, she learned that “behind the mask was an individual who loved science, an individual who was full of compassion.” While wondering if a career in the healthcare field was in her future, she was inspired by a comment that “healthcare is like a city,” it allows people of many interests to come together and unleash themselves. She now knows that she wants to strive as a passionate healthcare provider like those that she interviewed. Vy’s interest is leading her into possibilities in nursing (RN, NP, CRNA), physician assistant, medical doctor, biomedical engineering, and healthcare informatics.

Jennifer Valdivia Garcia will be attending Portland State University and is a graduate of McKay High School in Salem, Oregon. Jennifer learned that she enjoys volunteering her time with community service projects, and knowing that her efforts have a positive impact on people’s lives. This realization inspired her to pursue a major in speech healing and sciences. She plans to graduate with a masters degree in speech pathology and work at a hospital, “motivating and supporting both English and Spanish patients through their speech journey.”

LanHong Huang will be attending Northeastern University. She is a graduate of Lakeridge High School. In her younger years she volunteered in environments that would enhance her curiosities for future studies. This led her to volunteering in a hospital, where she “learned to think in the perspective of others in order to provide the help needed to improve their well being.” She strives to support, uplift, and inspire others, thus creating a bond from one person to another with acts of kindness. LanHong noticed that such acts returned positive feedback and goodwill, which taught her to appreciate the efforts of others for showing their gratitude. She states “the development of a constructive mindset has allowed me to direct such influences towards my choice of study — behavioral neuroscience on an optometry track.”

Rita Thammakhoune will be attending Boston University and is a graduate from Sunset High School. Rita states that the memories of her great-grandmother and her work experience at a senior care center have influenced her to pursue a career in biomedical engineering. She “hopes to explore the integration of engineering and healthcare in college, making contributions to help seniors become more independent and reduce the stress of caregiving.”

Tiffany Truong graduated from West Salem High School. She will be attending Willamette University majoring in public health. Tiffany learned from her volunteer activities that it was because of the collaborative efforts from both community and staff members that the organizations and programs that she was involved with achieved success. Tiffany believes that “community members are essential in advocating for and increasing awareness” of various issues. With regards to healthcare “collective action goes beyond influencing healthcare policy and can influence the creation of stronger communities better equipped to serve various populations, because each community member has an equal stake and responsibility to contribute to a more equitable community.”

David Lee Quan Memorial Scholarship

Meher Khan is this year’s recipient of the David Lee Quan Memorial Scholarship. Meher graduated from Sunset High School and will be attending The University of California - Davis. Meher’s experiences include data analysis of hospice care statistics and shadowing an RN. From these experiences she learned that she would like a career that would allow her to work directly with patients to treat debilitating illnesses. Meher learned that many diseases such as diabetes “often manifests first in the eye.” And thus she will pursue optometry as her career path.”

Sheung Mou & Fenge Tam Scholarship

Qiying Ma graduated from David Douglas High School, and he will be attending Oregon State University. Qiying says “As the first one in my family to graduate from high school and go to college in the United States, I know that I have to pave the path on my own.” Recognizing that mental health care is lacking in the AAPI community, Qiying hopes one day he can open a free healthcare clinic to serve this community. He will study psychology with the intent to go on the pre- med track to become a psychiatrist.

Danica Leung will be attending Emory University studying political science and anthropology. She graduated from Lincoln High School. Danica says that a college degree is “incredibly important to my family as a means for social mobility and professional development.” Her experience in debate and civics has taught her “the importance of advocating for herself in government.” While in college she is excited to continue exploring her academic interests and advocate for the equity issues she cares about. Danica states that her college experience offers “the opportunity to meet expert professors, befriend energetic students, and explore the unknown that invigorates me and makes me want to fight harder to be a voice for my community.”

Jakoby Moss graduated from Mountain View High School in Bend Oregon. He will attend Eastern Oregon University, majoring in physical therapy, and fulfill a dream of playing college football. Jacoby says that a college education will help him to have a financially stable environment, which will allow him to give back to the community in various ways to make an impact on others who are not as fortunate.

The Tiffany Wang Arts Scholarship

This year's recipient is Shaye Hazen from Eugene. Shaye has a passion for movement and art created through dance. And will apply this scholarship towards her love of dance in a pre-professional dance program this summer.

C.A.C.A. Portland Lodge and its members are very proud of the efforts and aspirations of all of these wonderful students.

For over 40 years the Portland Lodge has sponsored scholarship opportunities in Oregon and SW Washington. And now many of our past scholarship recipients are giving back to their communities by volunteering their time, skills, and donations. We thank our members and friends who have supported and hope they continue to support our mission to develop leadership, serve the community, and promote civil rights.