2019 YouthCon Scholarship USA

YouthCon Scholarship is an annual scholarship hosted by AASuccess to encourage high school and college students to get familiar and involved in volunteering while also promoting philanthropic work to make a difference in neighborhoods and communities everywhere. This scholarship aims to reward innovative and driven students who have a mindset for giving back to their communities. YouthCon is directed toward individuals who seek to strengthen their personal skills such as leadership, writing, and presentation. This annual scholarship allows students with a vision to make it a reality with the support of AASuccess. By encouraging novel proposals and unique student-led projects, our YouthCon Scholarship empowers applicants to make an impact in their futures that will extend to their communities.

2019 YouthCon Scholarship essay prompt:

“Giving back is one major component of what makes AASuccess unique. We believe in not only dreaming of change, but also taking action to create that change. Share with us a local or community issue you are passionate about. What program or project would you carry out to work towards a solution with a budget of $200?”

  • Timeline: October-March 2019
  • Led by: 
    • Kim Do, Level 2 Student
    • Sarah Nguyen, Level 2 Student
    • Vy Do, Level 2 Student
  • Awards
    • First place award: $1,000
    • Second place award: $700
    • Third place award: $500
  • Results
    • Received applications from 22 applicants from middle schools and high schools in the DMV area, ages ranging from 15-18
    • Successfully organized the Essay round, Orientation, and the Oral Presentation round
    • Hosted the YouthCon Award Ceremony with over 200 attendants at the Westin Tysons on August 10, 2019
  • List of winners
    • First place: Ethan Nguyen, Senior, George C. Marshall High School
    • Second place: Tina Xia, Senior, Walt Whitman High School
    • Third place: Medeline Krisko, Junior, George C. Marshall High School
  • Essay judges
    • David Montanari, Principal, BCLC Global
    • Cecilia Tsang, Patent Counselor, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
    • Binh Ly, Assistant Project Director, WinnCompanies
    • Jim Alstrum, Supervisory Patent Examiner, United States Patent & Trademark Office
    • My Nguyen, Owner, Kao Sarn Thai Bistro LLC
    • Raza Khan, Cyber Security Consultant, Deloitte LLP
    • Emily Rupert, Marketing Analyst, Hilton
    • Polaris Luu, Instructor, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College
    • Jerome Dykstra, Founder, University of Generous Knowledge, Inc.
    • Lauren Fleetwood, Talent Process Analyst II, Fannie Mae
    • Nini Nguyen, Financial Services Consultant, EY
    • Elizabeth Barry, Program Officer, Meridian International Center
    • Nam Nguyen, Senior Analyst, FINRA
    • Sai Chow, Capital One
    • Brandy Van
  • Oral presentation judges
    • Kevin Lee, Sr. Sales Consultant, Pineapple Payments
    • Mai Nushin, Mortgage banker, The Federal Savings Bank
    • Aimee Liu, Senior Associate Advisory, Grant Thornton LLP
    • Andre Lam, Senior Consultant, Deloitte LLP
    • Daniel Chung
  • Featured article: https://blog.aasuccess.org/2019-youthcon-scholarship-winners-are/
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Halloween Party at Katherine Hanley Shelter

AASuccess is helping to organize a community Halloween party for young children and their parents at the Katherine Hanley Family Shelter. If you are coming to the office on October 27, please try to stay a few more hours to come volunteer. It would be amazing if everyone in the office could help and also bring some friends to volunteer too. We are expecting around 30-40 very cute kids who are around 1-5 years old along with their parents at the party. To keep things in the spirit of Halloween and make everything more fun, please come to the office dressed in a costume!!

 

  • Timeline: October 27, 2018
  • Led by: Sarah Nguyen, Kim Do, Vy Do
  • Results
    • 16 volunteers
    • 4-5 hours on-site, 18-20 hours to prepare
    • Successfully organized over 9 Halloween-themed games such as: Ring Toss, Face Paint, Bingo, Knock down the Can, Bowling, Cakewalk, Spider Walk, etc.
    • 40 children and adults served
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NAVY Federal Half A Marathon Runraiser

Timeline: 

  • Practice: June – September, 2018
  • Running day: September 16, 2018
  • Led by: Wendy Yuan, Level 3 Student
  • 6 mentors and students participated
  • Over 12 hours of practice leading up to the running date
  • $4000 raised

6 mentors and students of AASuccess ran in the Navy Half Marathon Run on August 13th to raise funds for Life Skills Academy. We raised a total of $4,000 to fund:

  • Reach and train at least 100 children and adults in character building, leadership skills, and giving back mindsets, both in local DMV areas and Vietnam.
  • Student-run giving back projects throughout the year, including our annual YouthCon, summer & winter community projects.
  • Offer more scholarship, student stipends and internships to allow students applying their life skill lessons in practical circumstances.
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Project Butterfly

Our U.S. students and DELTA program students collaborated together to provide supplies for living and education to over 30 underprivileged children in Vietnam living in orphanages and temples. Our U.S. students raised money through a car wash and bake sales. Our DELTA students bought the supplies and also spent time cooking and playing with the children.

  • Timeline: June – August 2018

Fundraising team

  • Led by: Vy Do, AASuccess Level 2 Student
  • Results
    • Fundraising team: Surpassed goal by raising over $600; $512 after expenses
    • Through collaborative effort between AASuccess and Delta Success students, Project Butterfly successfully benefited a total of 28 children in Dieu Thang Temple (Di Linh Province) and Bach Hoa Trang Orphanage (Tay Ninh Province). 
    • Core participants: 10 AASuccess US students and 13 Vietnamese students
    • Total participants: 37 people, including students, mentors and outside volunteers, participated over the course of Project Butterfly to ensure goals were accomplished.
    • Give out $479 worth of gifts, including non perishable foods, uniforms, school supplies, shampoos and footwear to orphanage children in Vietnam.

Execution team

Team 1: Visit Dieu Thang Temple

  • Supervisor: Ms. Hang Tran 
  • A team consisting of eight Delta students in Di Linh reached ten children whose ages range from 7 to 14. They worked quickly to arrange meetings with representatives from the temple, planned days to purchase items, delivered them, and cooked food for the children. Some Delta students also donated their own resources in addition to the ones they bought with the fundraised money. Lastly, they spent time playing soccer and volleyball with the children in an effort to be more connected to them.  

Team 2: Visit Bach Hoa Trang Orphanage

  • Supervisor: Chau Ngo
  • Tay Ninh team, which consists of five Delta students, reached eighteen orphans (eight in secondary school, five in primary school, three in vocational school, and two in preschool). This team worked separately, where each person was assigned to purchase certain items. However, they all met up at the orphanage on the delivery date to distribute supplies. They also spent time playing with the young orphans.

 

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2018 YouthCon Scholarship USA

YouthCon 2018 is an AASuccess signature annual contest to inspire giving back spirit in young students, while helping them to reach their potential and pay for college or summer programs.

This year, the scholarship is open to both high school and college students. All students who are attending high schools or colleges/universities in Maryland, Virginia and Washington D.C. are eligible to apply for college and high school scholarships in the areas of community giving, essay writing, oral presentation, public speaking, and more. 
 
  • Timeline: December 2017 – April 2018
  • Led by: Minh Pham, AASuccess Level 3 student

Essay prompt: “If you could leverage $1000, what project(s) could or would you undertake to make improvements in your local neighborhood or community?”

  • Awards:
    • First place award: $2500
    • Second place award: $1500
    • Third place award: $1000
    • Fourth place award: $500
    • Income-based award: $1500: One $1500 Scholarship for an incoming college or senior high school student winner, who demonstrates an outstanding commitment to community service and making an outstanding effort in academic work, essay writing and oral presentation.
  • Results
    • Received applications from 32 applicants (12 college students and 20 high school students)
    • Successfully organized the Essay round, Orientation, and the Oral Presentation round
    • Raised $11,000 
    • Hosted the YouthCon Award Ceremony with over 100 attendants at the Stacy C. Sherwood Community Center
  • List of winners
    • First place winner: Neha Krishnakumar, Sophomore, W. T. Woodson High School
    • Second place winner: Kristina Nguyen, Junior, Virginia Commonwealth University
    • Third place winner: Khiem Doan, Junior, Mount Hebron High School
    • Fourth place winner: Thuy-Linh Bui, Sophomore, Duke University
    • Income based winner: Nancy Thai, Senior, W. T. Woodson High School
  • List of Essay judges
    • Aimee Liu, Senior Associate Advisory, Grant Thornton LLP
    • Alice Chang, Senior Consultant, Deloitte LLP
    • Andre Lam, Senior Consultant, Deloitte LLP
    • Mai Anh Lieu, Senior Student, Rutgers Graduate School of Education
    • Cecilia Tsang, Patent Counselor, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
    • Chau Tran, Social Media Manager, Voice of America
    • Gabbie Pham, PT, DPT, Town Center Orthopaedic Associates
    • John Victoria, Owner, Polianna LLC
    • Kiki Wang, Advisory Manager, KMPG
    • Madeline Main, Senior Consultant, Willis Towers Watson
    • Binh Ly, Assistant Project Director, WinnCompanies
    • Cac Bui, DDS, Duncan Mill Dentistry
  • Oral Presentation judges
    • Anh Phan, Outreach Representative, US Senator Mark Warner
    • Nathaniel Seaman, Engagement Manager and Expert, McKinsey & Co.
    • Nick Marsh, Licensed Agent, New York Life Insurance Company
    • Nick Tran, Product Manager, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development & Acquisition (ASN(RD&A))
    • Jennifer Phelps, Graduate, National Defense University
  • Student’s Journal: Organizing the YouthCon Oral Presentation 
  • 2018 YouthCon Thank you Note to Donors
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Boy Scout to support Brandon Nguyen’s idea

From Troop 702 Gia Dinh Scout, 16 year old scout Brandon Nguyen from Oakton High School believes in the power of books, and created a “community library”. Anyone with access to the internet can check out physical books from our bookshelves at AASuccess. Most of these books are about Vietnam, or Vietnamese literature. Patrons can look up the books from our online library, pick it up from our office, and return it when they’re done.

Here is how it works: the online catalog allows everyone to reserve a book online. All they need to do is give their email information to the online “Librarians”, and choose the book they like. If the book is available, an email will be sent to confirm the reservation. After that, they can come to the AASuccess office to pick the book up. Upon finishing reading their book, they can return it to AASuccess. It’s that simple!

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