Student Biography/Testimony

Anna Livia Chen

Anna Livia studied History and Black Studies at Swarthmore College outside of Philadelphia, PA, incorporating classes in queer and Asian American subject areas when they had the chance. They see their role as a story teller as an academic and spiritual duty, an inheritance from their Taiwanese heritage, which values the wisdom of ancestors above all else. They hope to spread the stories of resilience through suffering in a career in public education and information.

My worsening health has made my undergraduate education more difficult than most. The Tang Scholarship eased the financial burden of my education and be able to get some necessary treatment for chronic pain, chronic infections, and mental health maladies.

Chad Ngo

Chad Ngo, MPH (he/him/his) is a Bay Area local and proud UC Irvine & CSU Fullerton graduate who is invested in public health, social justice, and progressive systems change. He was raised by two parents who narrowly escaped Vietnam after the Fall of Saigon and has lived in both Northern and Southern California. As a first-generation college student, he strove to help others through his love of public health while maintaining a very colorful social life in Orange County, CA.

Currently, he is managing a public health program focused on tobacco control & prevention for the LGBTQ+ community in San Francisco, CA. Previously, Chad has worked with people living with HIV/AIDS, survivors of sexual violence, first-generation students of color, clients in a county drug and alcohol treatment program, homeless LGBTQ+ youth, and gay/bisexual/transgender individuals incarcerated in the LASD Men's Central Jail.

Overall, his long-term career goal is to earn a doctorate and research the impact of U.S. drug policy on the LGBTQ+ community.

The Tang Scholarship allowed me to fully fund my college experience at UC Irvine and explore my passions for social justice, political engagement, and critical theory as a Public Health Policy major. As a queer, first-generation college student, there were not a lot of funding opportunities back in 2010 and I remember the day when I received my acceptance call for the scholarship. Now I have both my B.A. and MPH with plans for a doctorate after a few more years of working. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for supporting my journey as a public health professional and scholar.

Daniel Tran

Graduated from UCLA

Working as a software engineer in the Bay Area

Future founder of a socially and environmentally responsible company

"Helped" feels like an understatement when I think of the enormous impact the Tang Scholarship had on my life. Ed believed in me at a time when no one else did. With the support of his scholarship, I saw that there was a future for me.

JC De Vera

JC De Vera is a proud queer Pilipino-American. He is a Bay native that was raised by a working-class, Pilipino immigrant family in east side San Jose, California. JC attended Yerba Buena High School, where he was the first student to be elected class president throughout all four years. JC is a proud Double Bruin, having recently completed his Masters in Public Policy at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, where he focused his studies on analyzing inequities in social and urban policy issues including education, community development, and philanthropy.

As an undergraduate at UCLA, he was a Sociology and Asian American Studies double major, and was actively involved in student organizing around LGBT issues, college affordability, and student diversity. He successfully helped lead the effort to establish the nation's first-ever concentration in Pilipino Studies under the Asian American Studies Department. As a college senior, JC was elected to UCLA's undergraduate student government and advanced issues of sustainability, worker's rights, and social justice as the Facilities Commissioner.

During graduate school, he completed a yearlong policy fellowship with Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s Office of Immigrant Affairs designing strategies to bolster civic engagement. Prior to graduate school, JC worked at The Greenlining Institute, where he utilized storytelling and digital communications to advance the organization's racial and economic justice agenda. JC previously served on the nonprofit boards of Associated Students UCLA, Filipino Advocates for Justice, and the Greenlining Academy Alumni Association. He was selected as the valedictorian for the 2013 cohort of the Front Line Leaders Academy, a political leadership development program focused on training young progressives to run for public office.

JC is currently a steering committee member for the Bay Area chapters of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy (AAPIP) and Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy (EPIP). He was recently selected as the new Chair of the Lacuna Giving Circle, a group of friends committed to raising resources for LGBT and AAPI-serving nonprofit organizations. In his spare time, JC is an avid foodie, music junkie, Netflix binger, lover of all things arts and culture, and a wanderluster planning his next travel destination.

The Tang Scholarship made my dream and goal of being the first in my family to attend graduate school a reality. As a first-generation college student, I did not have role models growing up who were successfully admitted to graduate school. If getting admitted to graduate school was important, making it financially possible to attend was even more so. Growing up in a working-class family, I knew that money did not come easy, and I was afraid of saddling myself with an enormous amount of debt in order to pursue a graduate degree. Unlike entering graduate programs such as Law or Business that have a higher chance of larger financial returns, my pursuit of a Public Policy degree was driven by my desire to uplift underserved communities and my commitment to public service. Luckily, I was given a generous financial package to attend UCLA Luskin, and with the help of the Tang Scholarship, I'm one of a fortunate few that was able to graduate debt-free with a master's degree. This freedom from debt allowed me to pursue my passions, and land my current job in philanthropy, where I'm able to mobilize and move resources to nonprofit organizations that are advancing social justice. If it were not for the Tang Scholarship, I would likely be pursuing a job solely for the financial payout, rather than one that taps into my passions, unlocks my talents, and allows me to act on my life's purpose of strengthening communities and providing economic opportunities to the most needy.

Michael Choi

Michael Jae-Myung Choi was born in Oakland to Korean immigrants. Michael attended Hercules High School, where he was the editor-in-chief of the yearbook and first flutist in the symphonic band. Michael graduated in the top 5% of his graduating class and attended UC Berkeley.

During his time at Berkeley, Michael majored in environmental science while participating in a cappella and the Korean American Student Association. Michael's desire to engage in environmental policy and law drew him to law school.

Michael received his law degree from the University of San Francisco School of Law. During law school, Michael discovered intellectual property and decided to pursue trademark law. He also became involved with the Law Review, and several minority bar coalitions. While Michael interned at intellectual property law firms, he spent his pro bono hours at clinics assisting impoverished clients with their immigration paperwork. A recent graduate, Michael hopes to continue to provide legal representation to those who cannot afford counsel, especially in the API and LGBTQ communities.

Phuong Tseng

Born to an immigrant family with no knowledge about the U.S education system, I didn't even know how to apply to college, let alone attend and graduate. Thanks to Ed and the Tang Scholarship, I was able to attend a stellar private school in Oakland, Mills College, and graduate with a bachelor's of arts degree in Sociology. The Tang Scholarship allowed me to focus on my learning and take advantage of a private education. Attending Mills changed my life and empowered me to be a strong and proud advocate for myself and my community.

Since 2014, Phuong started working at the Haas Institute as a research and data analyst. Their work focuses on examining and alleviating structural inequities and institutional barriers that prevent marginalized groups from accessing resources and services necessary to upward mobility. Phuong believes that every youth has the potential to change the world if they’re given that opportunity. The Tang Scholarship gave youth like myself this opportunity to reach my potential; therefore, Phuong is extremely grateful to have received the Tang Scholarship and thankful to have such a wonderful network. Phuong hopes to give back to the community by supporting and mentoring the next generation of scholars, researchers, advocates, and leaders who are committed to equity and social justice.

Randy Luu

I'm currently a third year Internal Medicine resident at Kaiser Los Angeles. I grew up in San Francisco, went to UC Irvine for college, and then went to Tulane University for medical school.

Medical school, and the entire process of completing medical training, can be a very challenging time. The Tang Scholarship definitely helped ease the financial burden of medical school so that I could focus on not just studying, but also serving the underserved A&PI and LGBTQ communities through local as well as national organizations. Even during the very busy time of residency, where we often work 6 days a week from dawn to dusk, it serves as an excellent reminder of the types of communities I want to serve after finishing residency.

Simeon Alojipan

I am incredibly astonished, grateful, and humbled to receive this award from the Tang Scholarship. As a child of immigrant parents, and one of the first of my siblings to go to college, it has been incredibly difficult to attend school without means of financial assistance. I work three jobs simultaneously to support myself financially, which has resulted in burnout, stress, and worry over the future. Receiving this scholarship helps mitigate that burden. The Tang Scholarship will help support me financially as I work a full course load next year, along with working full time across three different organizations: Pin@y Educational Partnerships (PEP), Asian American & Pacific Islander Retention Education at SFSU (ASPIRE), and the Campus Academic Resource Program tutoring center at SFSU. Receiving this scholarship has changed my outlook and brightened my entire view for my final year of undergrad. I am so incredibly grateful to have my work load mitigated by Edward Tang and the board's help, and I now look forward so much more optimistically to the upcoming school year.

Simeon Alojipan is a student of Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University. He teaches Filipina/o/x American History at Denman Middle School as part of Pin@y Educational Partnerships and also works as a Peer Mentor as part of the Asian American & Pacific Islander Retention Education program at SFSU. His research interests are in queer interracial romances and Asian American sex worker identity, stigma, and advocacy.

Tiffany Lin

Tiffany Lin is a multidisciplinary artist whose work seeks to reframe the mythology of the American Dream as both random and conditional through signifiers of chance and circumstance. This ethos translates into conceptual, performative, illustration, and text based projects focused on nation-making, belonging, and constant states of want as it pertains to American identity.

Tiffany currently serves as a faculty member at the Community School of Music and Arts in Mountain View and San Jose, CA. She holds a MFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art in Illustration Practice and a BA in Gender & Women's Studies and Psychology from the University of California, Berkeley.

After graduating from UC Berkeley in 2011, I worked for a few years as an educator and reproductive health counselor at a community health center in Oakland Chinatown. The experience was incredibly humbling and critical in shaping the way I perceived inequity, public health, direct service, and enacting social change. Spurred by this ethos, I moved to New York City to switch careers in hopes of better serving my community through larger political and cultural dialogue in the form of visual arts. The Tang Scholarship enabled me to take courses at Parsons the New School for Design and gain technical skills in illustration and printmaking and expand my professional network. In addition to Mr. Tang's generous financial support, he also provided invaluable guidance as a mentor and friend. I am grateful for his encouragement and kind heart in the most difficult parts of my life.

Tran Nguyen

Gay, (Bi-sexual in past: dated both sexes in middle school. Have had sexual relations with men but not with women; but kissed a girl in middle school, which was last time I had relationship with a female; most recent being a male)

Tran is eager to receive a pHD in public health and medicine to understand the health disparities within the LGBT community and to one day provide to his own community. Tran attended De Anza College and successfully transferred to UC Davis, where he majored in Sociology. Tran participated in annual blood drive events despite not being able to donate due to his sexuality. Despite this, Tran continue to support his classmates and university.

Tran has overcome tremendous opportunity but understands that he has been blessed with opportunity and great support, such as the Tang Scholarship. He is forever grateful for this opportunity and strives to provide a support system to LGBT youth in the future.

This scholarship has taken so much financial stress from me and allowed me to graduate from college. It has given me hope and opportunity; something I was not aware of until meeting the Tang scholar committee.

Trung Nguyen

Trung lives in San Francisco and has been involved in various anti-racist organizing projects across the Bay and Los Angeles. He is currently writing a dissertation about the uses of visual objects under U.S. imperialism.

Tang Scholarship alleviated the amount of student debt I took on for my Master's and Undergrad. It allowed me freedom to focus on my studies and be more involved in political organizing.

Zihao Huang

In East Bay suburbia born and raised, on the playground was where Zi spent most of his days. And with the help of the Tang Scholarship, Zihao was able to overcome generational obstacles to take his street smarts to University of California, Berkeley and beyond. Nowadays Zihao juggles interior design work and teaching yoga at the Oakland LGBTQ Center.