January 26, 2023
Today, Mina (in spirit), Jaslene, Charlee, and Anna, had the honor of visiting the white house on behalf of AYR. They had the honor of hearing Elaine Tso, Dr. Biden, and the president all make speeches. The recent shootings have greatly impacted our community, making it even more important to lift each other up and come together. The president delivered an impactful speech on gun violence and the importance of lunar new year. After that, we met tons of awesome people, and Anna had a great chat with Belinda Lei, and even found a colleague of her mother’s. They got to explore a good 5 or 6 rooms, but the red and green room particularly were Anna’s favorites. She got to sit on the couch that Michelle Obama sat on famously, and spotted a Bierstadt painting from across the room and interrogated a random marine on whether or not another one might be in the building. After that, Charlee and Jaslene talked to Lee Wong, a retired army veteran who showed his battle scars on a TikTok video as a protest. Everybody there was so interesting, and we hope to continue communicating with them after today!