Adam came to the U.S. from Kenya as a refugee in 2004. At the age of 16, he was hired to work as a janitor at a youth drop-in center. “Close to half of the youth had compromised housing,” he says. “Many were African Americans, GLBT, and living below the poverty line.” In a short time, Adam found himself taking on more and more responsibility, helping youth find more permanent housing.

Then he was asked to serve on the center’s board of directors and assist with an effort to pass Minnesota Runaway and Homeless Youth Act. He testified in front of Minnesota Legislature’s Health & Human Services committee, and the act was passed that session. It was the first legislation in Minnesota dedicated to supporting homeless youth.

This past spring, Adam was awarded a Point Foundation scholarship. The scholarship is awarded to undergraduates who are interested in influencing public policy. Adam is one of 25 recipients selected from a pool of more than 5,000 applicants. He is the only awardee attending college in Minnesota.

Adam will work with a mentor to develop a community service project. He says he is interested in creating a project that will combine his passions for education, access to housing, and helping youth who have been marginalized because of their gender or sexuality.

“The Point Foundation is interested in helping people who have potential to do great things,” Adam says. “I am glad they see that potential in me and that I have the opportunity to do this project.”

At Augsburg, Adam is in the TRIO/SSS program and is a McNair scholar, a Sabo scholar, and a North Star STEM scholar. He also received a Soul Essence community leadership award for his work with the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act.

As a Sabo Scholar, Adam is working on a project with Sabo Professor Garry Hesser. Their work will culminate in an Oct. 15 panel discussion at Augsburg focused on how recent healthcare legislation will affect the public.

Adam says that his educational and volunteer experiences have taught him that getting involved is sometimes simply a matter of asking. “I asked about the Sabo program, and the next thing I knew I was meeting Martin Sabo. I never thought I could meet with people who have legislative power or that I could get help from people who could make my public policy dreams come true.”

Adam is planning to go to graduate school for statistics or economics. He wants to use quantitative tools to help inform policy making at both the federal and state level.

Sabo Center Public Policy Symposium

Healthcare reform: What will it mean for you and the nation?

Friday, Oct. 15, 2010

4:30 p.m.

Foss Center, Augsburg College

Panelists include:

Donna Zimmerman, Sr. Vice President of Government and Community Relations HealthPartners

Dr. Sanne Magnan, Commissioner Minnesota Dept of Health

Dr. Bruce Amundson, President of Community Health Innovations Inc. and Assistant Professor, University of Washington School of Medicine.

Moderated by Martin Sabo.

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In her four years at Augsburg, Chang has participated in the TRiO program and was involved in Scholastic Connections. She’s done research as a McNair Scholar and through the URGO summer program. She’s been a member of the Augsburg Asian Student Association and Link. She also studied abroad, spending a semester in South Korea and teaching English in Thailand with Prof. Kathy Swanson.

For the last two years, Chang was involved in the Phillips Scholar program where she created the “C Project – Cultivating a Caring Community” and provided activities and programming for homeless Hmong refugee children in partnership with Southeast Asian Community Council.

Chang, a biology and English major with a minor in writing, learned about Augsburg through the Upward Bound program in her high school. She has enjoyed the small campus community and the fact that professors and staff take opportunities to get to know students personally. “I feel very alive on campus. There’s always someone you know, someone you pass by who says hello and stops to talk to you.”

In her speech at the May commencement ceremony, Chang will talk about how civic engagement, “…how it’s integrated into our everyday lives and how we live that through our education at Augsburg.”

Chang says that for her, civic engagement means being an active student but also getting involved outside of Augsburg—locally and globally. “It means going out into the community and taking the opportunity to have dialogue with people and to build relationships.”

In her time at Augsburg, Nou Chang has definitely learned a lot about civic engagement. And her commitment is likely to continue after she leaves Augsburg. She is waiting to hear about a Fulbright Scholarship and hopes to teach English in Thailand for a year before applying to medical school.

Wherever she goes, you can bet she’ll be right in the center of the action. Congratulations Nou, and good luck!

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