CURRENT AGE: 18
JANE ADDAMS SCHOOL FOR DEMOCRACY
Like its namesake, the Jane Addams School for Democracy in St. Paul, MN, focuses on providing social and educational opportunities for those in need, primarily immigrant families adjusting to life in a new land. In particular, the school brings new immigrants and college students together to engage in conversation and work, based on the belief “that everyone is a teacher and everyone is a learner,” according to its Web site.
One of those students is Mai Emma Yang, a Community Engagement Scholar at the University of Minnesota who will graduate next semester. Mai has dedicated hundreds of hours to helping members of the St. Paul Hmong community, who come from various Southeast Asian countries. The Hmong, who had helped U.S. forces during the Vietnam War, had to flee their homeland after the Americans withdrew; about 100,000 now live in the United States.
While she was originally unsure what she wanted to pursue, Mai has discovered a passion for service through her work with the Hmong and plans to get a Master’s degree in social work. When asked what she enjoys most about her work, she said, “You never know what one little thing you do for someone will make such a big impact. I find impacting other people’s lives so rewarding.”
What would you say your biggest success with your work to date has been?
My biggest success is being a Hmong woman in the community and being among those with higher education. Because, in the Hmong culture, it’s usually male dominant, and so by being a Hmong woman who’s trying to change things, changing who we are as Hmong people, that is just very rewarding to me.
Do you have any special projects that you’re working on right now?
Right now, I am working on a translation between the words, the different terminology that we use. I’m taking a lot of phrases and words from 100 questions [garnered from a survey of Hmong] and I’m turning that into my own dictionary that can translate from Hmong to English, and English back to Hmong.
What advice would you give to other youth who want to get involved?
I would say to learn to keep your options open and to do lots of research, because you never know what you will come across, and you never know what you’ll find that you could be passionate about. I know that I switched majors three times, but now I know what I want to do with school. You just have to keep your options open because you never know what you can be and what you can do.
Jane Addams School for Democracy
St. Paul, MN
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