Pafn

marcusf329 · 07-03-2009, 11:57 AM

Are/Were any of you guys ever in the Peer Advising Family Network? I just got an invitation to apply and would like to hear opinions from current/past members.

veshch · 07-03-2009, 12:01 PM

it's funny how they say it's asian and then you see they just mean chinese.

-_-

i'm not sure when americans will learn that there are asians who are not chinese.

shirker · 07-03-2009, 04:14 PM

veshch, I'm confused, where do they generalize Asians by referring to them as Chinese?

db123 · 07-03-2009, 11:43 PM

ignore veshch. This seems to be her ridiculous remark for anything related to A/APA relations and the A/APA community at UVa.

marcus, I was a part of PAFN my first year and I thoroughly enjoyed it. PAFN basically works like this: you have two "parents" (two upperclassmen) and a "family" (other first year students). The parents you have are there to help guide you with advice ranging from academics to the best places to order food from. It also helps you network and meet other students in PAFN. Throughout the year, there will be events where you get to meet students from other "families" (there are 32 advisors, 16 families) and panels when you can ask advice for specific subjects. For example, there was a panel this spring for pre-med students where PAFN members could ask current premed students in various stages of applying (from those who were accepted to med schools to those who were about to take their MCATs). The selection process was very rigorous this year; more than 100 people applied for the 32 positions. For the most part, advisors are involved with the UVa community. My PAFN mom helped me get a job on grounds.

I would definitely recommend accepting the invitation. You get to meet new people and expand your contacts and get advice from upperclassmen. And, there are no strings attached. Your involvement in PAFN depends upon you. You can go to all your family events if you want, or you can attend just one.

marcusf329 · 07-04-2009, 12:28 AM

^ wow, thanks for the information db123, it was very, very informative. Seems like everything a first year would want really, with no downsides, and many upsides. Thanks a bunch I'll get to my app now right now!

db123 · 07-04-2009, 12:42 AM

No prob. If you have any more questions about the program, feel free to ask.

marcusf329 · 07-04-2009, 01:18 AM

One question, the application isn't too important right? I'm pretty much just going along and answering what I first think of and not taking it too seriously. How important is the application?

db123 · 07-04-2009, 01:24 AM

Not really. We pretty much take all first year applicants. the questions are just there to help put you in a family.

marcusf329 · 07-04-2009, 01:31 AM

Alrighty. Btw are you going to be an advisor?

db123 · 07-04-2009, 01:32 AM

I'll let you figure that out.

veshch · 07-04-2009, 02:02 AM

"Alrighty. Btw are you going to be an advisor? "

of course db123 is an advisor.

and oh i'm so sorry to generalize, but from what i see on the blog, practically every 'asian' is just chinese. and i'm not saying this just for PAFN. i say this for their 'asian' sororities as well. it's a general american thing. azns~*~*~* = east asian. you can ignore my post but you'll see this happening in the states anyway! my friend who moved from singapore to US 2 years ago told me herself.

so um yeah, when americans say asians, they usually mean chinese. as does the pafn. but marcus, if you're chinese, you'll probably enjoy.

and i'm not saying you only have chinese pafn advisors. i'm saying majority of them are chinese.

marcusf329 · 07-04-2009, 02:11 AM

^ I don't think that is true... I live in an area where the predominant Asian population is Korean, so when I hear asian, Chinese is just about the last on my mind. It might be a generalization in some places, but its definitely not assumed that asian = chinese.

db123, what's your name? If you don't mind saying it

on the app, the last table asks for preferred advisors, why does it have a "name:" space when there are choices from 1st to 5th right underneath?

canuck01 · 07-04-2009, 02:40 AM

vesh, your ignorance is astounding. I don't know how you can personally speak on behalf of the entire American people in saying that Americans automatically think of Asians as Chinese, or that this group is only Chinese people. I don't know about anyone else, but when I think of Asians, I think of people from Asia, not just China.

While you claim that the pafn means Chinese by Asian, a member on this board is not Chinese.

veshch · 07-04-2009, 08:24 AM

marcus: yeah, i mean like chinese/korean etc. east asian basically.

oh i'm not saying everyone is like that. but most people in america think of asians as east asians. same goes for UK, where almost everyone thinks asian means south asian. you guys need to chill. i'm not dissing pafn or whatever, i'm just saying a majority of the members ARE east asian which is true. and yes, i still say that when americans think of asian/'azn', they think of east asian. it is true.

db123 · 07-04-2009, 12:40 PM

Quote:

of course db123 is an advisor.

you don't know me.

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db123, what's your name? If you don't mind saying it

I'd rather not.

If you end up in my family, great! If not, great! All the advisors are really nice, so you'll be fine no matter what.

______________________________
Now, to Veshch.

You are the most ignorant nincompoop I've seen on this forum. And I've seen some bad ones. I'm involved in the A/APA community to combat the nonsense you're posting. There's a lot of things I'd like to say, but they would be censored. So I'll just leave it to this.

Quote:

and oh i'm so sorry to generalize, but from what i see on the blog, practically every 'asian' is just chinese. and i'm not saying this just for PAFN. i say this for their 'asian' sororities as well. it's a general american thing. azns~*~*~* = east asian.

wrong.

Quote:

you can ignore my post but you'll see this happening in the states anyway!

YOU HAVEN'T EVEN BEEN TO THE U.S. How the hell would you know? Here's the introduction to yourself from your sorority thread.

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I'm a north indian who's never been to america

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my friend who moved from singapore to US 2 years ago told me herself.

oh wwwwwwow! you have 1 friend! That's how many you'll stick with if you keep this up.

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so um yeah, when americans say asians, they usually mean chinese. as does the pafn. but marcus, if you're chinese, you'll probably enjoy.

wrong. you haven't even been to UVa, let alone the States.

Quote:

and i'm not saying you only have chinese pafn advisors. i'm saying majority of them are chinese.

wrong.

Quote:

i'm not dissing pafn or whatever,

No, you're insulting the entire country.

As an active member of the A/APA community at UVa, I implore you to NOT post your unfounded baseless opinions on this forum. They cause more harm than good, and I'm not going to combat it everytime you post. During the year, my posting here is sporadic, and I would HATE to see you responding to poor prospective's questions on the A/APA community. You'll end up starting rumors about UVa, and we'll be combating them for years to come. I do not take this lightly.

The kicker?
I'm not east asian. Bite it.