TRANSCRIPTION: I was born in Texas and grew up in Iowa. My Dad is third generation Japanese American. He was raised in Portland, Oregon. My Mom is from Texas and she is Irish and Welsh. My Dad's parents, they were born and raised in Portland and they're very much West Coast Japanese Americans. Very proud of who they were and definitely passed that on to the next generations. There was not so much an Asian American community in Iowa. In fact, I think we were one of five Asian American families in my town. Ames, Iowa is not know for being an Asian American hotbed. But I think there's something great about growing up as "the other" and in a place where you kind of stick out. You have to really sort of figure out who you are because of that.