Bay Area Chapter

Board of Directors | Contact Information | Current Events | Past Events

Message from Eric Schen, President

Welcome to the Bay Area Chapter of APSEA in beautiful San Francisco Bay Area.  It is truly a privilege living and working here in such a culturally rich and diverse environment, brimming with vitality and dynamism, not to mention the fantastic weather!  As your Chapter President, I would like to share my excitement by promoting fun-filled activities that enhance what I call the Three C’s of APSEA:  Career development, Community service, and Cultural awareness.

CAREER DEVELOPMENT
To begin with, state employment can hold promise for a fulfilling career through hard work and dedication.  But to fully realize our potential, we need improved communication skills to build a strong network of support around us.  Through our growing network of members, we can share our collective experience and mentor members in their career development goals.  Members who move up further can serve as role models and inspire others.  Participation in APSEA organized activities, especially serving in various capacities on the Board, can open up opportunities to sharpen one’s planning, coordination, and organization skills in a non-threatening environment.

COMMUNITY SERVICE
Although we are in general fortunate to be well sustained economically, there are those around us in the community that may need assistance, especially the disadvantaged, the weak, and the elderly.  We should be exploring ways to identify and serve those ever present needs with charitable activities and new ways to make a positive impact in people’s lives.  Community service can be fun-filled and rewarding if we put our heads together and be creative.

CULTURAL AWARENESS
We are surrounded by so much diversity that we need to take it one step at a time and learn about the uniqueness of each culture.  It is through deeper understanding of each other that we dispel prejudices and gain greater respect to improve our ability to get along.  Learnng about each other can be fun.  I am envisioning virtual visits to a different Asian country each quarter, learning about the language, music, customs, food, and tourism opportunities in an entertaining way.  In order to make these visits or participate in any APSEA event, we would need of course an APSEA passport, earning a stamp on the pages of the passport for each APSEA event visited. The more you visit the more stamps you earn.  I would like to see a rewards program that can translate those stamps into member benefits.  It is my hope that we really get to know about our different heritage and have a great time doing it.

GET INVOLVED
In order to do all this, we need your help in providing your time and your resourcefulness.  We need your infusion of innovative and creative ideas to get us there!  We need you to get involved and volunteer your talents to make this organization meaningful for you and for all of us.  Thanks again for your continued support.  I know we can count on you.

---