Education is the Ticket

You know, I'd like to start by asking you about your family background. You have said that you've long been interested in education and you said the inspiration, belief came from your mom. What were some of the impressions from your mom's experience that really led you to where you are today?

Sure. Thank you. That's absolutely right. Education has always been the top priority in my life, but also through my family. My mom really instilled in us that education was the ticket to a better life. And she really sacrificed her own dreams and aspirations to ensure that me and my sister could experience the best education that we could have. We went to a great public school in New Jersey. There's a blue-ribbon school and had very great opportunities to excel in education, while my mom traveled two hours to work so that we could live in that community and experience that education.

And, you know, my mom also had her own aspirations. I think that she truly was the STEM woman of our family. And although she didn't pursue her love for being a doctor, she still ended up doing information management systems, working for the state public utility company. And the funny thing is that she finally got her post-secondary education degree, her bachelor's degree, six months before I received my bachelor's degree, because she was committed of not letting me be that first generation college student to really be the role model and what she instilled in all of us.