UHAA NCRC INTERN PROGRAM

2006-2007

Vaneza Lyn Agustin

Participation year: 2007

Sponsor: SOGI

Program: Smithsonian Institute, Asian Pacific American Program

Vaneza Lyn Agustin interned with the Smithsonian's Asian Pacific American Program (APAP) and had the chance to work with Dr. Franklin Odo, the little staff the program has, and other interns from different Universities. While in the APAP, she had the opportunity to help do research on promoting and launching a new project dealing with Southeast Asian Americans called “Homespun: Made in America.” Agustin also helped along with the other interns in coordinating and volunteering for events such as the annual Smithsonian Institute (SI) Teacher's Night and Southeast Asian Film Festival. But the highlight of the fellowship was when she and the other interns became part of the process of creating a space in the Library of Congress for the Asian American Collections. Agustin did one research on how affirmative action benefits Asian Americans and another research on how and what types of projects the SI APAP has come up with. Aside from the APAP, she and the other interns were given the opportunity to attend fundraisers and social gatherings from other Asian American organizations in the DC area. Through the fundraising events, seminars, and lectures, she was able to learn more about the various types of topics that would have never been covered in a classroom. Agustin realized the importance of networking while in DC and learned that there are many diverse Asian American organizations that all work together to help promote each other's goals. Her time spent in the office and outside with Dr. Odo and his staff were priceless experiences she was glad to have gone through. This experience taught her about determination and passion to help promote the things you believe in and live for and for this she will be ever grateful. Having spent one college semester in the Smithsonian's APAP gave Agustin great pleasure in knowing that she was given the opportunity to be part of something that will help shape the future of our Asian American community.

Professional Activities: After completing the internship, Agustin still has two more years of school left at the University and upon graduation she hope to be part of the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program for a couple of years and then move back to the east coast to attend law school.

Kyle Kikuchi

Participation year: 2006

Sponsor: SOGI

Program: Smithsonian Institute, Asian Pacific American Program

Kyle Kikuchi interned with Dr. Franklin Odo at the Smithsonian Institute’s (SI) Asian Pacific American (APA) Program. He maintained gift records for the Vietnamese Heritage Project and did research for a potential exhibit telling the story of Indian Americans and their near monopoly on the motel industry. Kikuchi also did a lot of out reach promoting the program at the annual SI Teacher's Night. He says, “I also must have stamped and mailed tens of thousands of invitations to the four public programs I helped coordinate and execute.  I also helped our strained office to move from the A&I building to the Capital Gallery.  I did all of this as well as all the minor secretarial work as the APA program had only two paid staff members.  My favorite times working at the SI was my lunch breaks with Dr. Odo and his staff.  The conversations we had were amazing, I got more out of one hour with Dr. Odo and one of his distinguished visitors than an entire junior seminar at UH.  To work with and be surrounded by brilliant people who respect me is something that I will never forget.  I had a wonderful time and really want to go back. “

Professional Activities: Following Kikuchi’s participation an as intern, he became a senior at the University of Hawaii but had to take a leave of absence in the Spring of 2007 to be deployed to Thailand as a Staff Sergeant in the Hawaii Air National Guard. Upon graduation, Kikuchi plans on going to law or graduate school

Sarah Myhre

Participation year: 2006

Sponsor: NCRC/Fong

Program: National History of American History

Sarah Keleka Myhre interned with the Department of Military History and Diplomacy in the Smithsonian’s American History Museum under Cedric Yeh. Her first major and on-going project began with the de-instillation and securing of the military exhibits in the path of the museum’s upcoming construction. She also edited and updated the database for the department’s September 11 collection, entering the locations, descriptions, and accession information of the objects. Other projects included securing the antique gun collection in the department’s gunroom and creating acid free storage-boxes to re-house the military uniforms. For her final project she transcribed the 1852 diary of Mary Armistead Bradford, wife of George Armistead, the man who commissioned the Star - Spangled Banner. Her experiences in Washington D.C. and with the Smithsonian afforded her life lessons that she will not soon forget.

Professional Activities: While interning she worked on completing her final semester at UH Mānoa where she graduated in Fall 2006 with a B.A. in English and a minor in Religion. Currently she is working on her MLISc in Library and Information Science at UH and after graduating plans to attend law school.

Barron Oda

Participation year: 2006

Sponsor: NCRC/Fong

Program: National Museum of American History

Barron Oda was an intern at the National Museum of American History. Upon his arrival in Washington DC, he was able to see this museum before they closed the doors for renovation. He was assigned the job of cataloging a “Teaching Collection” of items stored in a basement room. All items had to researched, tracing the origins of some items that were previously tagged with numbers, approximate date of manufacture and purpose, and photographs and descriptions of each item. The finished product, a searchable database, contained over 600 items listing its physical location on the shelf, its affiliation to specific activities and its origin (if known) as well as special notion for delicate or potentially sharp or heavy items that should not be handled by visitors. “My internship experience has been more positive than I could’ve ever imaged, especially more so considering that I was fortunate to have come at a historic time with the Museum had just closed to the public and was undergoing a major overhaul,” stated Oda.

Professional Activities: At the time of his internship, Oda was a senior at UH, majoring in Philosophy and English. He will graduate in the fall of 2007.

Kamanaokakuhihe (Kamana) Seymour

Participation year: 2007

Sponsor: NCRC/FONG

Program: National Museum of American History

Kamana Seymour was an intern at the National Museum of American History and was assigned to do research on a part of the CIGNA (Insurance Company of North America) collection of volunteer firefighting equipment and artifacts. He chose to research historic fire engines starting with 18th century hand pump spray tubs and ending with a 1922 Ahrens-Fox, covering along the way Piano-box hand-pumpers and the makers of these vehicles, as well as the evolution of steam powered fire engines.  Kamana felt he was able to use his education and skills thus far in the work that he performed.  His research and writings on the fire engines have been put in a data base at the museum and will be uploaded to a research and informational web page at a later date. Kamana was grateful for a good supervisor, an exciting project and especially glad that he was able to work at a place where he walked across the National Mall everyday and saw the Washington Monument and Capitol Hill on his travels between the museum and the Metro station.

Professional Activities:  At the time of his internship, Kamana was a senior in American Studies minoring in Geography and he intends to graduate in May with a BA degree.  He will be applying to grad school at UH Manoa to gain a certificate in Historic Preservation and explore the possibility of studying toward a Masters Degree in Urban & Regional Planning, possibly at UH Manoa or in the metropolitan Washington DC region.

Elizabeth J. West

Participation year: 2006

Sponsor: NCRC/Fong

Program: World Sindhi Institute (WSI)

Elizabeth West interned at the World Sindhi Institute (WSI), a non-profit organization that works for human rights issues in Pakistan. The purpose of the institute is to apply political pressure to the governments of the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in order to change the way Western countries deal with Pakistan, especially in regards to foreign aid. Elizabeth’s role at WSI was as an assistant to the executive director, Munawar Laghari. In this position, her main duties were to write press releases, control communications with Congress, work on event logistics—such as protests and the annual conference, development of the 2006 advocacy campaign (“People Unite for Human Rights in Pakistan”), and to conduct research on the exploitation of natural resources in Sindh. Also, she was given the chance to attend the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights in Geneva, Switzerland, which gave her first hand experience in understanding how large intergovernmental organizations are operated.

Professional Activities: Since graduating from the University of Hawaii in December 2006, Elizabeth moved back to the Washington D.C. area and is now employed as a News Assistant at Asahi Shimbun, Japan's leading newspaper, as a correspondent for the 2008 Presidential elections. She hopes to attend graduate school in the near future for International Relations or International Development.