Phan leads Metamorphic Pages as President

In the eye of a storm known as 2020, one local student proved no obstacle is too large to unite people around the world. Whether in a global pandemic, time zone restrictions or political division, Senior Chau (Amanda) Phan united students across the globe in the midst of unprecedented hardship.

Growing up, Phan never pictured herself as the future head of an international organization. This carried into her 8th-grade year, when Phan witnessed the power of stereotypes firsthand.

Her school offered students the choice to learn electrical engineering or office computing. Phan aspired to pursue engineering, but once she got home, her parents advised her to pursue computing.

The reason: they viewed office life as a more suitable profession for a girl. Now, as the president of Metamorphic Pages, Phan recognizes the chance to move beyond these conventional standards. She also aims to utilize her platform to inspire other girls to follow their own aspirations regardless of popular opinion.

“[Whether they] noticed or not, my parents were influenced by the mainstream stereotypes,” Phan said. “Therefore, with my role at Metamorphic Pages, I want to feature an inspiring image of female minority voices to empower youth, to let them know they can reach beyond others’ expectations of them. With a majority of my members being female, I hope they understand the values and power they have in inspiring others.”

Metamorphic Pages is an organization and Facebook page run by and aimed toward Vietnamese students around the world with a goal of generating informative articles and raising English proficiency. As the president of the organization, Phan leads the 65-member team spread across more than 15 cities worldwide.

Phan discusses her ambitions for the organization and how she plans to expand its reach in the future.

Phan’s goal for her team is to establish relationships between writers and their members through the organization. She pushes her writers to share their unique backgrounds and establish a community. Phan recognizes that this objective invites others into one’s own world. She urges her staff to be willing to step into the reader’s world as well.

As a student at the University of British Columbia, Andy Phung recognizes the potential impact of the team through social media. Phung relishes the opportunity to share his writing with Vietnamese students around the world as a guest writer with the organization.

“People tend to focus on the cons of social media,” Phung said. “But, I’m a glass-half-full guy. It’s awesome that I can share my writings online: physical distance has become less of a defining factor in valuing an idea. I have to give it to Chau’s efforts with Metamorphic Pages. It’s clear that she is very ambitious to provide insightful and accurate information to the world.”

As the head of Metamorphic Pages, Phan aims to tell and share the stories of inspiring people around her. This summer, she received the opportunity to interview teenage activist Tiana Day. Day led thousands of protesters across the Golden Gate Bridge as part of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Phan recognized that Day’s story carried the potential to inspire her readers. She also acknowledged that her own personal story shared many parallels with Day’s. Both aim to utilize their platform to overcome stereotypes and prove their ability to lead. Phan hopes readers are inspired by Day’s story and her determination to overcome stereotypes.

“I want people to be inspired by Tiana Day,” Phan said. “To me, she’s not only a youth leader, she’s also a symbol of bravery, of courage. Tiana Day has a multicultural background, she’s half Filipino and half African American. She shared with me how she felt she did not belong to either. She kind of feels a sense of separation and uses that to motivate herself to advocate for equality.”

As a teenager, Phan faces her own struggles and challenges as the leader of Metamorphic Pages. Through her time as president, Phan confronts the expectations that come along with the job title daily. From lofty self-expectations to insecurities about her management ability, she continues to overcome these hurdles with the aid of her team.

With 65 staffers across the globe, Phan also relies on members’ support to grow the organization. Head of advisory Jessica Nguyen attends Windermere Preparatory School in Florida and has acted as a stabilizing force for Phan on the team. Nguyen credits Phan for her role as the anchor of the group. She recognizes the strides Phan has made in growing Metamorphic Pages.

“Amanda is always the pillar that holds everything together,” Nguyen said. “She has managed to initiate projects that no one of us could have thought we could even approach, for instance the interview with Tiana Day. Amanda has single-handedly turned a small teenage organization into something so inspirational and larger than life.”

Metamorphic Pages uses an application system for any Vietnamese students curious about joining. Phan encourages anyone interested in the organization to reach out to her as part of the application process.

“For anyone who’s interested in joining Metamorphic Pages,” Phan said. “I would love for you to reach out and have a good conversation with me to get to know more about you. You can either send me your resume to my email or direct message me on Instagram. I would love to talk with you.”

For more articles read COLUMN: Running the SAT/ACT gauntlet and Despite controversy, TikTok remains popular with youth.

Kyle Clem can be reached via Twitter: @KyleClem5 and via email.