Long story short:

I love to create with music, words, stories, and action. I’m also passionate about sustainability, environmental justice and diverse representation in media. Born in San Francisco, grew up and based in New York, and graduated from Yale University in 2019. My writing partner Sita Sunil and I are currently members of the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop!

Short story long:

My grandmother was born and raised in New Haven. On her side of the family, I’m a 6th generation Chinese American. One of my grandfathers, fleeing war, lived in the US as an “illegal” paper son, and the other was “legal,” but detained at the age of 10 on Angel Island and separated from his family for months while he was interrogated. Both buried their stories deep in their hearts. When I was born, my paper son grandfather, surname Wong, didn’t want me to have his real family name, Chin, because he feared it would jeopardize our family. My parents, though, believed it was important to give me and my brother our original name back. They taught me to take pride in our long and storied American history, as well as our Chinese culture. Growing up in a mostly first-gen immigrant area of New York, though, I was often the odd one out. As a result, I always had to question “where I’m from” and “where my [American] parents are from,” and that sparked a lifelong interest in connecting with others of different cultural backgrounds via storytelling.