Stanford
Asian American Activities Center

Words from the A³C Director about AIM

"The A³C served as a crucial support network – it allowed me to succeed in school and gave me the opportunity to grow as a student leader…it was through the A³C that I found strong mentorship and other students with shared experiences."

PAHUA '10

Dear Sophomore:

Congratulations on finishing your first year at Stanford! My name is Linda Tran and I’m the Associate Dean and Director of the Asian American Activities Center (A3C). The A3C serves as a resource for Asian American students and Asian American student organizations on campus. As you begin to gear up for the new academic year, I wanted to invite you to participate in a program that our center coordinates exclusively for Sophomores—the Asian American Interactive Mentoring Program (AIM). AIM matches Stanford Asian American staff, faculty, and alumni with Asian American sophomores for a full year of one-on-one mentoring.

AIM was created to provide a culturally sensitive mentoring experience during a crucial time when you are still gaining your footing at Stanford and discovering what matters to you. Some of the goals of AIM are:  

  • To build a greater interactive Asian American community
  • To offer undergraduates the support and experience of faculty, staff, and alumni
  • To provide faculty, staff, and alumni with a way to become more involved in campus and undergraduate issues


The A3C hosts an AIM dinner each quarter throughout the year so that Mentors and Mentees have a scheduled opportunity to meet. Outside of this dinner, Mentors and Mentees will meet or communicate based on their individual schedules and hopefully develop a close relationship. AIM is not an academic or career mentoring program per se, but a way for you to get insight from more experienced adults who are familiar with Stanford and can relate to and better understand your cultural background. These Mentors can help you continue to navigate Stanford and serve as helpful resources, no matter your path. We try to match Mentor/Mentee pairs based on common interests and information provided in your application. Mentors may be faculty, alumni, or administrative staff from a variety of departments and disciplines.

Eligibility

Since AIM is an in-person program, effective participation requires you to be on campus and to commit to developing a relationship with your mentor (who is generously volunteering their time) the entire year. To be eligible for AIM, you must meet the following criteria:

  • Sophomore students who identify as Asian American.
  • Students must have current/active enrollment status at Stanford. We cannot accept students who are taking a gap year or are otherwise on leave.
  • Cannot be studying or traveling abroad for any quarter of the 2024-2025 academic year.

Commitment – 2 events each quarter

  • Attendance at the AIM dinner with your mentor held once each quarter. Fall quarter AIM dinner is tentatively scheduled for Wed, Oct 16, 2024 from 6:00-7:30pm.
  • Minimum of one (1) additional meet-up/discussion with your mentor, scheduled independently with your mentor at any point in the quarter as possible.


If you are interested in participating in AIM and want to learn more about the program, please check out our website here: https://a3c.stanford.edu/programs/aim. Please also complete the online application by Tuesday, September 3, 2024. Participation is limited to 40 students, so please get your applications in early as priority is given to students in the order that completed applications are received.  If you have any questions please email our AIM coordinator, Justin Lim (jlim223@stanford.edu) or (a3caim@gmail.com).

Enjoy the rest of the summer and see you soon!

Linda Tran  
Associate Dean and Scott J.J. Hsu Director  
Asian American Activities Center