When Vania Myers gets bored at a coffee shop, she starts sketching the people around her. Art has always been a passion for the senior graphic design major and is a big part of her identity.

While most of her work has been on the computer and on Adobe InDesign, she’s working on perfecting her sketching technique.

But another big part of Myers’ identity that she’s recently tapped into is her Asian-American heritage.

Myers tapped into this identity when she became involved with Asian Students in America, known as ASIA, a culturally diverse organization established to represent Asian-American students on and off campus.

Myers did not join ASIA as a general member; she took on a leadership role from the start as a member of the executive board. She is now the creative director for ASIA.

She applied for her position as creative director after she saw advertisements about the organization searching for someone to create the advertising and branding visuals.

“Ever since I came to college, I’ve never really questioned or paid attention to my identity as an Asian-American or a Korean-American,” she said. “There has been this entire movement going on, but I hadn’t learned anything about it.”

Myers said joining ASIA has been one of her best decisions at Syracuse University.

“I’ve become aware of why my parents came to America, why I am here,” she said. “I’ve been taking a lot of Asian and Asian-American Studies courses. I’m learning so much about Asian-American history that I had no idea about.”

Being a leader of a group that brings together a community through potlucks, concerts and even general gatherings is amazing, she said.

“It is part of my identity. SU has many diverse groups and by meeting them and getting to know other people, you discover who you are as a person,” she said. “That is what ASIA did for me. I became more aware of my Korean-American identity and more accepting of it as well.”

Published on April 14, 2014 at 1:00 am

Contact Jen: jbundy@syr.edu