@theU

“Growing up, I was taught that if I can help someone, it is my responsibility to do so. I learned that example from my father, who is my hero. His hard work and positive attitude have been a guiding light throughout my life.”

“I am amazed by the resilience of our students. The reality is I’m just helping make the connections—the students are doing all the hard work.”

“When I was 16 years old, I was doing a roofing project at my grandma’s. She put a chair down in the middle of her yard and said, ‘I’m just going to sit here and make sure you don’t fall.’ But I’m the only one that can make sure I don’t fall off that roof. She couldn’t do it for me. Safety really starts and ends with the people doing the work.”

“I want students, faculty and staff to know Campus Police are here as a resource. If someone doesn’t feel comfortable making a police report, we still want them to contact us so we can direct them to the help they need. There are so many resources on campus—OEO/Title IX, victim-survivor advocates, counseling. We want people to reach out to us so we can offer resources and referrals to keep them safe.”

“What I like about research on resilience is that it shows there are simple, practical strategies that put fuel in your tank, get you back on track—whether that is getting through the workday or shaping a positive lifestyle.”

“I did not fully grasp the impact of the injustices that my ancestors experienced until I was in my 20s. I loosely knew my Japanese-Australian grandmother and her family were interned during World War II. I knew she was a single mother, raising three children in post-war Australia and living below the poverty line. I knew my mother experienced racism in her home country. However, as the child of a white-American father and an immigrant, Japanese-Australian mother, I was shielded from much of this while growing up in a middle-class neighborhood.”

“U students should know that we are working to address their needs and that we want to hear from them. As the ASUU president this year, I am excited to give back to U.”

“As a gambler, the mental skills and techniques that we would teach athletes in grad school help tremendously. One of the hardest parts is headspace. When you have down weeks, you have to put it behind you, trust your process and know that long term it will work out and that the process is sound.”

“I love research. It’s exciting and incredibly rewarding to identify problems and devise creative solutions with a marriage of molecular biology and computer science. I feel like I won the lottery. I’m a full professor at the university I love. I’m eager to get to work, and it’s often hard to leave. Loving what you do is an incredible blessing.”

“I’m very excited about the novel (fiction) called ‘Wacko’s City of Fun Carnival.’ It is loosely based on my own experience of running away from home at 15 and a half and joining a traveling carnival. As my mother always told me, ‘How could somebody be born on Halloween, in a cab, in San Francisco and not have an interesting life?’ And, she was absolutely correct.”