Okada, like all other dorms on campus, have a team of student and professional staff members to support residents. What makes Okada and the ethnic theme dorms special is that we also have a team of three student staff members who serve as our Ethnic Theme Associates, or ETAs for short. Click here for an explanation of the roles!
Hello hello! I am Kaila Kim (she/her/hers), a senior majoring in Economics. I’m from Rancho Palos Verdes, CA, which is a 45 minute drive from Los Angeles, and I’m very excited to be one of Okada’s Resident Assistants. This is my second as an RA in Okada and my fourth year living here. I like to play vidya games, listen to D&D podcasts, and doodle everywhere. Okada is very near and dear to my heart, and I hope that it becomes a very special place to you too. HMU at kmk1004@stanford.edu if ya got questions :^)
Hi hi, everyone! My name is Gabby Delos Reyes (she/her) and this is my second year as an RA in Okada! I am a fourth year studying computer science. I was born and raised in La Vista, Nebraska a place that didn’t really have a strong Asian/Asian-American presence, which is why I love the intentional community of Okada. If you have any questions about what it's like to live in Okada, let me know: gabbyr@stanford.edu.
Hi! My name is Becky (she/her) and I am currently a senior in Urban Studies with a minor in Theater & Performance Studies. I love enjoying performing arts, bad reality tv, and banana bread! Okada has been an incredibly warm and loving home for me at Stanford, and I am so excited to share this community with you all as an RA!
Hi, my name is Josh Pe (he/him/his). I am a junior double majoring in Asian American Studies and Economics, and I’m one of the Ethnic Theme Associates. I’m a Chinese-Cambodian son of a refugee + immigrant and I come from a FLI background. I love to cook, quilt, drink (and spill) tea, and play melee.
Hi everyone! My name is Ashley Amado (she/her, feel free to call me Ash) and I am super excited to be an ETA in Okada this year! I am a senior majoring in Bioengineering and minoring in Asian American Studies. I’m from Spokane, WA — while the area is beautiful, I never was exposed to any Asian American influence while growing up, which is one of the reasons I love Okada!
Hello!! My name is Amulya Yerrapotu, I use she/her pronouns, and I’m one of the RAs in Okada this year! I’m a senior majoring in economics with a minor in poverty, inequality and policy. I’m from San Jose, CA, just 40 minutes from Stanford. Aside from the Bay Area, I also love talking about my dog, poetry, public service, politics, housing justice, the Legend of Zelda, Star Wars, pop punk music, astrology, being brown, being queer, and tbh basically everything else.
Hi everyone! I’m Chris (he/they, either is fine) and I’m one of the Okada ETAs for this school year! I’m a third-year double majoring in music (with a concentration in music technology) and Asian American studies, and I’m a second-gen Chinese American from a small-ish town called Dublin nestled in the inland East Bay (about an hour away from campus on a good day). Okada has definitely been one of the places that has made Stanford really special for me.
Hey y’all! My name is Edwin Carlos (he/him/his) and I’m a senior majoring in psychology and minoring in education! I’m from Renton, WA (a suburb outside of Seattle) and I’m one of Okada’s Ethnic Theme Associates! I love playing super smash bros., listening to relationship podcasts, and exploring the beauty that is the Bay Area :).
Hi hi, everyone! My name is Gabby Delos Reyes (she/her) and I am so so excited to be one of your RAs this year! I am a third year studying computer science. I was born and raised in La Vista, Nebraska a place that didn’t really have a strong Asian/Asian-American presence, which is why I love the intentional community of Okada.
Hey everyone, my name is Grace (she/her), and I am Okada's Residential Computer Consultant (RCC) this year! I grew up in Massachusetts, but Okada has truly become a second home to me after living here the past 3 years! I'm a junior majoring in computer science and minoring in music, and some of my favorite things include learning new instruments (currently working on #6!), baking/cooking, and dogspotting :)
Hello! I’m Huanvy (they/them) and I’m so excited to be joining Okada for the rest of the year! I was a muggle my frosh year, preassign sophomore year, and ETA last year so this house has always been a home for me. On-campus, I’m a senior studying Asian American Studies and minoring in Sociology and a member of various Asian American orgs; off-campus, I organize with a queer API org called APIENC. Okada has been a great community for me and I hope it is for you too.
What uuuuuuuuuuup! My name is jswigy (he/him/his) and I’m the PHE (Peer Health Educator)! Not really good at intros but I’ll try and get some of the surface level stuff out of the way. I guess to start off- I was born in Sacramento, CA (the capitol baby!). I am currently a third year student, planning on majoring in CSRE (Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity) and Psychology! I hope Okada finds a way into your life like it has mine.
Hello hello! I am Kaila Kim (she/her/hers), a junior majoring in Economics. I’m from Rancho Palos Verdes, CA, which is a 45 minute drive from Los Angeles, and I’m very excited to be one of Okada’s Resident Assistants. I like to play vidya games, listen to D&D podcasts, and doodle everywhere. Okada is very near and dear to my heart, and I hope that it becomes a very special place to you too.
From left to right: John, Eleanor, Jacob, and Edith.
Hello! We are thrilled to be welcoming you to Okada! Edith (she/her) is an Associate Dean in the Office of Academic Advising at Stanford as well as an alumna from the Class of 1999 (Human Biology major, Comparative Studies in Race & Ethnicity minor) with a masters degree in Public Health. John (he/him) is Logistics Director at Informatica, a software company, and spent his early years as a UC Santa Cruz Banana Slug (Psychology major). We met while working as youth counselors for Asian Americans for Community Involvement (AACI), a community-based organization providing health and human services to communities in San Jose, and now have two children: Eleanor (11 years) and Jacob (9 years). We’re looking forward to getting to know you and spending time with you, in person and virtually. Among our many varied activities, you can find us running around on Wilbur Field, playing Crazy 8’s or Tag, taking Pokemon Go walks around campus, knitting, watching student performances, and just spending time with our family, most of whom live in the area. When you move in to Okada, we'll consider you part of our family, too!
(side note: Eleanor and Jacob can and will destroy you in foosball.)
Here's a quick explanation of each role!
RA (Residential Assistant) - Responsible for doing things like managing the house budget, checking in on residents' physical/mental/emotional health, planning big and small events, enforcing house policy on things like quiet hours, and keeping the house running!
ETA (Ethnic Theme Associate) - the ETAs are the ones who focus on creating and encouraging conversation about the Asian-American identity in the house. They do this through facilitating discussions, creating events and panels, and by overseeing our pre-assign program (which includes trips to cool places and people, weekly presentations, and projects!).
RF (Resident Fellow) - The RFs are the "adult-adults" who help student staff coordinate together to work as a team, plan large events, and help handle emergencies and other dire situations, but they also serve as another link to the university and to ResEd. They are also always there for residents to provide a kind word, good advice (that you should probably follow), and in the Okada RFs' case, some excellent banana bread. They live in the Cottage, which is attached right next to Okada's front entrance.