OCA Intern Alum: Ho-Shyuan Wu
Written by Amelia Lagna and Kent Tong
DR. HO-SHYUAN WU GREW UP IN NORTHERN VIRGINIA, the daughter of Taiwanese and Chinese immigrants who instilled in her both cultural pride and civic engagement at an early age. Her father was heavily involved in Washington, D.C.’s Chinatown, so she was exposed to a lot of Chinese cultural events. Her parents were also active members of the local OCA chapter (one of their coworkers was president of the chapter), and she remembers attending events as a child. That early exposure made OCA a natural step when she began looking for meaningful summer opportunities during college.
Wu interned for OCA National Center in the summers of 1996 and 1997 while studying human development and Asian American studies at Cornell University. She supported the Avon Scholarship selection process for disadvantaged college-bound seniors, helped coordinate the scholarship recipients’ participation at OCA’s national conventions, planned and ran the national conventions in San Francisco and Chicago, attended coalition meetings, and worked on community outreach efforts like voter registration. Highlights for her were shaking hands with President Bill Clinton and having dinners with Asian American trailblazers like Norman Y. Mineta, who served as commerce secretary under President Clinton, and actor George Takei, of Star Trek fame.
“The internship was such an amazing experience,” Wu remembers. Personally, she enjoyed bonding with other interns from around the country, working on projects together, traveling, and running conventions together. Professionally, she gained confidence drafting speeches and press releases, while also learning the value of public speaking and grassroots organizing. But most importantly, the internship helped her explore her political and ethnic identity as a young student. “The staff in the office were excellent mentors and incredible civil rights activists, such as Daphne Kwok and Christine Chen.” She gained in-depth knowledge about the political process, including coalition-building and civil rights advocacy, and issues impacting the Asian American community.
Ho-Shyuan Wu (front, right) with her OCA internship cohort and OCA National Center staff
After graduating from Cornell, Wu continued her studies at Palo Alto University, where she completed her PhD in clinical psychology. While in grad school, she continued to be involved with local organizations serving the Asian American community, including the OCA – San Mateo chapter. Through experiences like the Bay Area chapter of Self-Help for the Elderly, aiding and supporting senior citizens, and the Alzheimer’s Association, where she led a Mandarin-speaking Alzheimer’s Association caregiver support group, she found her calling. “I am passionate about my work with older adults,” she says, and calls them a rapidly growing and underserved community. She believes the immigrant, minority, and low-income elderly population are even more vulnerable—something she knows from personal experience. “Through my experiences in my professional work and also caring for my own aging family members, it is clear to me that the needs and struggles of older adults—and their caregivers—are often overlooked and underfunded.”
Everything she’s learned during the OCA internship—the civil rights history, the political process, the importance of being politically aware and engaged—Wu hopes to pass onto her children. Current issues she’s concerned about are the deportation of legal immigrants, the rise in anti-Asian hate crimes, and voting rights. "Now, more than ever, it is important to understand our collective history as Asian Americans and protect our rights, given the rise of anti-Asian sentiment and anti-immigrant policies,” she says. “I am so thankful that there are organizations like OCA that continue to fight every day and protect our civil rights.”
Today, Wu resides in New Jersey, married to her college sweetheart, raising their teenaged son and daughter, and two cats together. She’s a licensed clinical psychologist in New Jersey, specializing in working with older adults. For more than 20 years, she’s worked in long-term care and provided consultations to staff and psychotherapy to residents. “It is truly a vulnerable and underserved population,” she says, “and I enjoy hearing their diverse life histories every day.”