Our Future is Our’s to Decide
By Veanna Pau’u – West Valley City, Utah
As a kindergarten teacher I have the opportunity of starting off my school year meeting with each student and their parents prior to the first official day of school. I give the student a short assessment on pre-kindergarten standards and then I talk with the parents about school and kindergarten expectations.
This year I had one particular meeting with a parent who did not speak English. Her daughter was bilingual but she, the mother, could only communicate in Spanish. No translator was on hand so we were forced to pick our way through our conversation with hand gestures and a mixture of English and Spanish words. There were a few laughs here and there from misinterpretations but neither of us became frustrated in our feeble attempts to understand each other.
After the parent and her child left, I couldn’t get over how impressed I was with this mother. I didn’t understand her and truth be told I didn’t understand most of her hand gestures either. However, her desire to be involved in her daughter’s education despite the language barrier made it clear that she was a mom that was going to be present in her daughter’s education.
I think of this woman and I think of my own mother, an immigrant from Tonga. What awkward conversations did she have with teachers just to ensure for me a path through education that would find me successful in the end?
I think of this woman and I hope that the education system will not fail her. Heavy on my mind are the obstacles that stand in her way; cuts in the education budget, laws that affect the quality of teachers hired to prepare our children for adulthood; standardized tests that marginalize children with specific learning needs. I think of the countless parents and providers across this nation and I know that this is their struggle.
This is our struggle.
And that’s just where education is concerned.
What other areas of our lives are we trying to communicate our needs but a barrier hinders us from being understood? We can no longer sit on the sideline and allow others to determine the destiny of our country or the future of our children. We can no longer opt out of participating in the political sphere or engaging in our civic duty to vote because when we do we allow the decisions that affect our everyday life to be made for us. We allow the future and destiny of our children to rest in the hands of others who may not have their best interest in mind.
Whether we realize it or not, whether we want it to be that way or not, so many things are dependent upon the way this country is run and who runs this country.
I look at my students, I look at our community, I think of our future, and I realize I can no longer afford to let someone else speak for me.
And neither can you.
Whether we speak the same language as those who write the laws or govern the land, whether we use hand gestures, the written word, or whether we can even speak at all, our future is ours to decide.
So be present, take part, speak up, and decide.
Veanna Pau’u was born and raised in West Valley City, Utah. She attended Hunter High then went on to study and graduate from BYU Provo. She is a kindergarten teacher at Mana Academy where she loves teaching as well as learning from her precious students. She loves spending time with her two nieces, her brothers, and parents. Veanna attributes her sense of civic duty to her concern for her community and family.
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We are excited to announce our 2016 Utah Pacific Islander Town Hall Keynote Speaker, Sefa Aina! In addition to the incredible work he does as Associate Dean and Director of the Asian American Resource Center (AARC) at Pomona College, Sefa serves as Board Chair for Empowering Pacific Islander Communities (EPIC). We are honored to have Sefa share his inspiring message with us on Saturday, September 24th at the Salt Lake City Public Library. Admission is FREE, but seats are limited. 
Mark your calendars! UPICEC will be hosting it’s first ever Town Hall on September 24th at the Salt Lake City Public Library from 6:30-9pm. This event is focused on educating and mobilizing the Pacific Islander and Asian American community to vote. Stay tuned for more info. Tabling, sponsorship, volunteer opportunities, and all other inqueries: info@upicec.org
Bev Uipi is a true product of Millcreek. Raised in the community, she attended public schools and graduated from Skyline High School, where she was a standout athlete and student. She fell in love with community collaboration and policy making by watching her father, Phil Uipi, become the first Tongan-American to serve in the Utah State Legislature —a position he held for two terms. As a teenager, Bev was recruited to be on the Junior National Volleyball training team at age 14. She attended the University of Georgia on an athletic scholarship and graduated with a degree in consumer economics and housing. Later, she earned a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Utah. Bev’s professional life has bridged both the private and public sectors. She worked for the family business, Uipi Investment Company, as well as for insurance firms. In 2006, she became an advisor to Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon on the county’s Council on Diversity Affairs. As a member of Corroon’s team, Bev’s role was to address issues affecting the Pacific Islander communities of Salt Lake County. Corroon later appointed her to his administration’s community relations team, a job that entailed visiting with constituents across all of unincorporated Salt Lake County. Bev is currently the senior center manager at the Millcreek Community Center. Outside of her professional endeavors, she is a frequent community volunteer. Bev and her 12-year- old son, Xane, reside in their home in East Millcreek.
In 2014, Honorable Sean D. Reyes was elected Utah’s 21st Attorney General by one of the largest margins nationwide. In less than three years under Reyes’ leadership, the Utah AG Office was named finalist for the 2015 Utah Ethical Leadership Award by the highly acclaimed Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative program. In 2016 for the second consecutive year, the Utah Attorney General’s office won four Best of State awards for state elected official, agency among other honors. Appointed by Congress and the President of the United States, Reyes conducted public hearings throughout the country to advise the Administration and Congress on Latino issues, and is an active surrogate for the RNC’s Asian American and Pacific Islander outreach program.