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By Kimball Vuu - Kimball is an ICAN volunteer pursuing a BioChem degree at UC Davis.
 This past weekend I was given the honor of attending the 10th NAVASA
Conference in Mclean, Virginia. Stepping into the conference, I
looked around the room to see the faces of Vietnamese American leaders
young and old from all across the country. At first I was filled
with intimidation, but then I realized that this was not the time to
feel intimidated, rather, this was a great chance to take an
opportunity to learn as much as I could from these experienced leaders
that surrounded me. Thus began my two days of learning and observing
at the conference. From the leadership forums, to the forums on youth
and elder, I learned so much from leaders dedicated to the idea of
empowering through giving. The experience was truly motivating,
inspiring, and educating. In the leadership forums, I learned the
skills from proven leaders on how I could be a better leader. They
spoke of skills, qualities and beliefs that are necessary to be a
great leader. In other workshops at the conference I was taught the
strategies and structure needed to improve a non-profit organization.
However, the most meaningful thing for me wasn't the things learned in
the forums or workshops. The thing that was most important to me was
the sense of unity I felt among everyone. It was a surreal experience
to be in a room with almost one hundred people with the same goals and
visions. Everyone at this conference was willing to take a few days
out of their lives to try and learn skills that would help them in
helping others. Furthermore, this trip helped strengthen the bond of
the ICAN members in attendance as well, and will surely help promote
better teamwork in the future. As the conference came to an end, I
began to have a feeling of sadness as I saw people go their separate ways. But I felt that somehow, the world was going to be a better place because of those people that were leaving the conference.
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