Ladon Language Team

UC Berkeley student Anh-Thu Ho received a prestigious invitation to attend the Clinton Global Initiative’s (CGI) Annual Meeting in New York City this September. As one of only 10 students invited to this gathering, she will be sharing ideas and discussing pressing global issues with hundreds of recognized leaders from the non-profit sector, government, and industry. Together, the meeting participants will propose commitments to change the world. Ho is a Bioengineering major from Singapore with a long history of public service including a medical outreach mission to Indonesia and founding Paint It On, a community art project at Danang Cancer Hospital in Vietnam. Paint It On won the Big Ideas @ Berkeley Video Contest. At Cal, Ho was an active member of the Volunteer Health Interpreter Organization where she worked with patients as an English-Vietnamese interpreter. Ho was recognized and invited to CGI for Ladon, the program she founded in early 2016. Ladon is a platform to cro...

Q: Hey Bao, let's share with us about your family and where you're from. I was born in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam and lived there until I was ten years old. In 2003, my family immigrated to the United States because my mother wanted to give my older sister and me and better future. We have been residing in Southern California ever since. My mother is an accountant and my sister majored in finance. Most of my relatives live in Vietnam so it is always fun whenever my family goes back to visit because we would have big family gatherings and eat tons of food. Q: So how was your very first week in the US, when you were just 10 years old? To be honest, I don’t have a clear memory of it except for the first thing that I said when I stepped out of Los Angeles airport: “The streets are so wide here.” It took me a while to realize-- and accept-- that the US was my new home because everything felt so foreign. I couldn’t speak English, so I felt very lost and cried a lot at night....

Q: What is it like to be the first generation college student in your family? It is both a blessing and a burden. It is awesome to be somewhat a role model to your younger family members because you give them hope in achieving their goals. However it is also a burden since you have to figure things out for yourself. You are first one to explore opportunities and find your path. As exciting as that sounds, it can become overwhelming and exhausting. Especially when you don't have a guide. The current misleading stereotype of what is an immigrant completely undermines the true struggle of an immigrant. They know what it is to not have support; they know what it is to not have economic resources; they know what its like to work low paid jobs as long as it brings food to the table. And despite all these limitations, I am witness that these individuals are the first to lend a hand to those that are fighting the same battle. An immigrant strives for the betterment of not only him/h...