A Carmel organization will host a retreat to expose young Asian-Americans in

A Carmel organization will host a retreat to expose young Asian-Americans in the Indianapolis area to different careers and extracurricular opportunities.

The Asian American Alliance’s inaugural Retreat for Asian Youth will feature panelists discussing topics from careers to social networking.

Students from the Asian Student Union at Indiana University Purdue University-Indianapolis also will talk to participants about what it means to be Asian-American.

The alliance decided to host a retreat to give Asian-American high school students an opportunity to step outside their comfort zone, said Rupal Thanawala, the event’s chairwoman.

Thanawala said Asian-Americans are thought of as excelling in academics and specializing in certain fields such as science and technology, and she hopes the retreat would encourage them to try something new.

“I think we are trying to bring different experiences because different professionals have different experiences,” she said.

Thanawala also hopes participants become friends and share their own stories.

The retreat will be from 9 a.m. to 3.p.m. Nov. 13 at IUPUI Library’s Lilly Auditorium, 755 W. Michigan St. It is free but is limited to 75 participants. Registration is scheduled to close Oct. 25 but is likely to extend through Oct. 30.

To register, visit www.aaalliance.org.

Source Follow Star reporter Carrie Ritchie on Twitter at twitter.com/CarrieRitchie