Moving Forward With Resilience

Resilience. When we think of resilience, we may think of people who have been through catastrophic circumstances and managed to survive, though anyone can have life challenges that can derail them.

In my experience, I find that when I have faced an obstacle that I can’t see how to solve or get around, it helps me to not give up but look for new ways to solve the problem. Oftentimes, there is no one solution that fits all the time, but I keep course correcting and finding different ways to address the challenge.

This year, the topic of the Asian American Women’s Coalition (AAWC) Annual Meeting was “Moving Forward with Resilience.’’ From the energetic Zumba kick off to the personal stories of the panelists, expertly moderated by Nydia Han, I learned that resilience requires courage and, despite internal cultural pressures for perfectionism, we can find support and solutions from reaching out to our community if we are willing to share our needs and be vulnerable. 

As an advisory board member, I am impressed with the steadfast commitment of the board to fundraise scholarships for Asian American women high school graduates - many low-income and first-generation - to pursue their higher education dreams. In addition, the AAWC offers programs such as the Annual Meeting that support Philadelphia Asian American women’s personal and professional development.

It's a unique and inspirational organization led and run by volunteers.