Brandon Nguyen
North Hollywood Chapter
California, USA
"At first, I joined mostly on a whim...
however, realizing the huge difference
one person could make, I found myself
going to meetings for the next few years."
Read the rest of Brandon's answers.
Richard Liang is from Fremont, California. He actively participates in the arts program at his school, playing cello in his school’s orchestra and percussion in the jazz band. This summer, Richard is laying the foundations for a VAMS Chapter at Mission San Jose High School. He likes that VAMS not only serves the community, but also encourages student leadership. He hopes to "learn a lot from VAMS, including communication, writing, and leadership skills."
Visual Arts and Music for Society
teenagers serving the community through
music, creative arts, and performing arts
What is VAMS?
A non-profit organization, Visual Arts and Music for Society (VAMS International) consists of youth who seek to bring music, art, and companionship to those less fortunate in their local communities.
Recognizing the healing power of art and its ability to uplift, VAMS members reach out to those who suffer from poverty, diseases, disorders, and disabilities. The organization achieves its goals by visiting and sharing their talents with thousands of individuals at hospitals, orphanages, convalescent homes, burn treatment centers, and homeless shelters. Along the way, volunteers also benefit from their involvement in VAMS, from developing event organization skills to building lasting friendships.
Learn more about VAMS.
Letter from the Founder: Summer Internship Program
Hello summer!
The sun’s out, and it’s warm and sunny outside the VAMS headquarters. So what is keeping VAMS busy? We’re expanding and continuing our summer internship program! Our interns range from Public Policy to Immunology majors and include qualified applicants from top-tier universities across the country. Provided with the opportunity to work remotely due to the geographical nature of VAMS, our directors and interns are located in states ranging from California and Illinois to even the country of Kenya. Personally, I’m currently located in Alaska, and there are glaciers peeking out from the top of my computer as I type this!
So who are the amazing directors leading our summer interns with me? Meet Armand Ontiveros and Eileen Ung.
Cheers,
Ernestine Fu
|
|
Armand Ontiveros Armand Ontiveros is a student in Bloomington, Illinois majoring in Business and minoring in Sociology. Armand has been a leader in his community through many capacities, from strengthening parent/ guardian and toddler relations through interactive trails, to helping organize Illinois’ first teen Dropout Prevention Summit, to co-developing a Driver Safety program at his high school. Moreover, he currently serves with Ernestine on State Farm Insurance's Youth Advisory Board. For all his hard work, Armand is recognized as one of McLean County’s Top 25 Leaders Under 25. As a VAMS Director, Armand strives to expand the outreach of VAMS and build more community partnerships. Aside from working within the community, Armand enjoys playing sports, exploring, and making memories with friends. |
|
Eileen Ung Eileen Ung is a student in Stanford, California majoring in Management Science and Engineering. Her strong commitment to community service is what brought her on board with VAMS as a director of the summer internship program. With a passion for education, Eileen has mentored and tutored peers, middle school, and elementary school students in math and critical reading for the past six years and is currently the Activities Coordinator for Stanford's Barrio Assistance Tutoring Program. As a former Frosh Council Representative and Executive Fellow for the Service Cabinet, Eileen also has strong leadership skills from her heavy involved in the Stanford Student Government. |
 |
Read more on The VAMS Blog.
Ian Clarke received a full ride to Indiana University, where he studies music composition. He has also been selected as a Berklee College of Music presenting film score composer, and earned recognition from the Beverly Hills Literary Society and the Kauai Peace Project. In high school, Ian studied the piano, flute, piccolo, guitar, and Indonesian gamelan. He used his expertise to reach out to the community through VAMS. What does this musician have to tell us about music? "One of the most important things to understand about creating music is that, regardless of how much music theory you know, or how much technical ability you possess, your music will be hollow and uninteresting if you lack emotional integrity."
