Asian Pacific Islander Club (APIC) has been a staple at Seattle Prep for decades. It has provided a safe and caring community for many who have decided to sign up. The club meets as often as they can looking to bring together member of the Asian community at Prep to celebrate their cultures and get to know of each other. They do this through playing games, eating delicious food, and simply discussing relevant topics as a group. However, this summer Co-presidents of the club Maya Lind ‘23 and Cian Trinan ‘23 along with the rest of the APIC board realized that once they graduated, APIC would be left without anyone to run it. So, they came up with a brand-new idea that is unique and specific to their club, peer mentorship. Underclassmen would be trained and provided with leadership experience in the club so that they can take over as members of the board in the years to come.

Four individuals in other grade levels have been selected to take on the responsibility of running the club next year including junior Alison Choi. She described it as “an opportunity to gain a better sense of what the club is about.” After the pandemic hit, participation in APIC dropped at an alarming rate with only 9 people logging on to the zoom meetings, eight of which being the board members. The hope is that this new system will not only increase the understanding and leadership of the club, but also raise more awareness of it.

Another reason passing down this information is important is because there have been talks of a city wide APIC meet up between multiple different schools. This event has been looked forward to by many and would be hosted by Prep, however only the seniors knew about it. So, with other members of the club now being informed, hopefully the APIC community will get together on the Prep campus.

On a more personal note, co-President Maya Lind stated that she, “wants more people to feel that they are a part of the club. It can be very easy to write your name on a list and maybe show up once or twice, but I want people to have a demonstrated and invested interest.” In their most recent meeting, there was a turnout of over 50 people, so the prospects this year are already looking up. This new system will create a more cohesive club providing more opportunities for younger members to step up. The peer mentees of this club have a large responsibility in the coming years but Lind “has every confidence that they will do an amazing job.”