“To see the world, things dangerous to come to, to see behind walls, draw closer, to find each other, and to feel. That is the purpose of life.” From “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” this very quote is the first sentiment Alexander Fung, third year Business Administration Major, gave about himself.
Alexander was more than excited when he talked about what his first year was like. “My first year was probably one of the best experiences I have ever had in my entire life!” It was a year when awesome opportunities presented themselves, and he could not wait to get his hands on them. He found himself wanting to get involved and meet other students. He remembers being a Founding Father for Pi Kappa Phi fraternity with 12 other brothers during Winter Quarter and being the director for UCI’s Summer Games before his second year began. He is most grateful for meeting a lot of his close friends through his involvements.
Here’s a list of what he’s done over his first and second year, including his current involvements:
First and Second Year:
ASUCI Office of the Executive Vice President
InterVarsity Christian Fellowship
Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity
Summer Games Festival
UC Irvine Summer Session
UC Irvine Summer Session International Program
ASUCI Legislative Council
Antleader Mentorship Program
Greek InterVarsity
Circle K International
Third Year:
Campus Action Team Commissioner, ASUCI Office of the Executive Vice President
Retention Coordinator, UC Irvine Student Outreach and Retention Center (SOAR)
President, Summer Games Festival
Treasurer, Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity
Instructor, University Affairs 1A
Coordinator, UC Irvine Student Outreach and Retention Center Food Pantry Initiative
Behind all of the amazing things he does, he talks about his drive with being involved and the work he does for the students in the different areas of campus life. When he was a child, his family was part of the upper class in Hong Kong. As fortunate and as perfect as that world seemed, he felt as though he was living in a bubble that sheltered him from poverty and global issues. The other side of it, however, was the education was extremely competitive. Him as a third grader taking 12 subjects and pulling “all-nighters” was enough reason for his parents to decide to move to the United States. Moving to inner city Los Angeles gave him his first glimpse of the signs of poverty and struggles of the lower class.
Alexander’s favorite part of planning Summer Games and other summer festivals for UCI is his ability to spread happiness on campus during the summer, but also giving his staff a chance to develop marketing and event planning experience, to implement these skills outside of Summer Games.
He enjoys leading and bonding with his ASUCI staff members because he can educate them on current campus issues that students would not normally be able to understand or even hear about. Each one is so passionate about learning more and making our campus a better place. Another great part about his involvement in ASUCI is being able to spread what he has taught his staff members to more students across campus.
He also loves working for SOAR as a Retention Coordinator because he has a chance to understand the retention issues at UCI, and then coordinate programs that would increase the retention rates on campus. He believes that an average retention rate of 90% is insufficient, education is a right and no one should be treated unfairly.
He loves being part of his fraternity and Greek life because it is where he experiences true signs of brotherhood, what he considers, “A bond that cannot be broken no matter how hard of challenges that we may face.” Although he feels the media adversely portrays fraternities, he believes Pi Kappa Phi is an exception—an organization that accepts him completely.
As for his biggest milestone: “It is pushing for UC Irvine’s food pantry at the SOAR Center.” He feels grateful to have the opportunity to work on this initiative with Jennifer Lima and Jessica Figueroa. The proposal was approved in early November and the food pantry will open in early January 2015.
For someone who has so much on his plate, balancing is pretty tricky. “As cheesy as this sounds,” Alexander says, “it is not possible without God’s help. It is honestly a great mystery to me as to how I am able to excel in academics while being involved and doing work for the students.” In terms of his upcoming fourth year, he’s thinking about applying for graduate school in the Public Policy field in Northern California. Alexander is also hopeful he will find a stable job after graduating. Oh! And he’s planning on traveling Europe and Asia before his senior year!