Thomas Pak (He/Him/His) 

Korean-American

I am a medical student in the Medical Scientist Training Program. Currently, I am in the PhD portion of my training in the lab of Dr. Val Sheffield. My research is investigating novel treatments for genetic disorders.

My parents immigrated from South Korea to Iowa for the American Dream. Growing up in Iowa, I appreciated the exposure to American Culture, and my Korean heritage at home. Sometimes, they would accidentally cross, like me unconsciously bowing to the teachers. I am proud to be the first APIA to serve as the Vice-President of Graduate Professional Student Government at the University of Iowa.

Mimi Williams (She/Her/Hers)

Vietnamese-Mexican-Portuguese-American

I am a first year medical student and the current co-president of Asian Pacific American Medical Student Association at Carver College of Medicine.

I am of mixed-race descent and am proud to be deeply intertwined with my Vietnamese heritage. My mother fled from Vietnam with her family after the fall of Saigon in 1975 and settled in San Jose, California in 1982. Shortly after that, she met my father, who is Hispanic. Though my sister and I are mixed-race, my mother always reminded us of our background and instilled Vietnamese culture in us. I enjoy celebrating Vietnamese traditions with my family and eating/cooking my favorite foods. At Carver, I hope to stay connected to my Asian American background through APAMSA.

Destinee Thidachanh Gwee​​ (She/Her/Hers)

Lao-&-Chinese-Malaysian-American

I am a third-year (soon-to-be fourth-year) medical student at CCOM. Growing up in Iowa City, I have had a complicated relationship with my Asian-American identity that is still evolving. A huge transition point for the way that I viewed my identity was the year I worked in Taiwan as a Fulbright grantee. Even though I am not Taiwanese, it was the first time in my adult life that I didn’t feel so “other”. The second big point was in the reverse culture shock I experienced when moving back to Iowa to start medical school, when I remembered again what it was like to be looked at and spoken to like I didn’t belong.

I give credit to my grandmother for almost everything that I am. For starters, I was only born because of my grandmother. When my grandfather, lieutenant colonel of the Royal Lao Army was captured by the communist party, my grandmother planned an elaborate escape for herself and her eight children, including my mother. She built a whole new life in Iowa for her family. English is my grandmother’s fifth language, and yet when she found out that my grandfather had escaped from the camp, she filled out all of the proper paperwork so that she could sponsor him to the US. And how amazing, I thought while working in Taiwan, that I could be in Taiwan on a grant given only to US citizens, all because my grandmother had the will to survive.

My grandmother has a fire in her like no one else. I like to think that the tiny fire I have comes from her. Sometimes I wish I didn’t have so much of it, like maybe I should keep my head down, not speak up so much, not rock the boat, be the “model minority” that Asians are supposed to be. Maybe life would be easier. But I’ve tried to stifle the fire, and it keeps reigniting. And besides, how could I honor what my grandmother has done for me and taught me and given me if I didn’t use all of it to speak up when things aren’t right, when there’s so much work yet to be done?