Hello! It?s an honor to receive the League for Innovation Excellence Award. I come from refugee parents who served in the CIA?s SGU during the Vietnam War. Through the grace of God, my parents were able to come to the United States to escape genocide and persecution due to their previous service to the U.S. I grew up in the land of 10,000 lakes and began my undergraduate studies at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. It was there that I met two wonderful individuals who shifted my path toward a career in higher education. One was my academic advisor, Manisha Nordine, and the other was my SEED professor, Alexs D. Pate. I still remember a classmate once mentioning how quiet I was, to which Professor Pate responded, ?Give him two years in college, and he will probably be the loudest of you all here.? Sure enough, that turned out to be true! Being inspired and empowered by individuals like them made me want to serve and give back as well. I went on to complete my undergraduate degree at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, MN, earning a B.A. in English. I had changed my major too many times, and by my senior year, my advisor pointed out that I had taken enough English literature courses to major in English. Since I had truly enjoyed those courses, I declared English as my final major. My first step into higher education was serving as a pre-college advisor with TRIO Upward Bound at Century College, a two-year community college in White Bear Lake, MN. From there, I transitioned to working directly with college students in various career and technical education (CTE) pathways through the Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institution (AANAPISI) program. Those were incredible years! I worked alongside some of the funniest, most passionate, and wisest CTE instructors. Besides the students, they were one of the biggest reasons I fell in love with community colleges. In total, I have worked at Century College for a little over 10 years and currently serve as the Assistant Director for the AANAPISI program. And of course, I enjoy academic advising so much that I still advise a little over 130 students.