I'm Virginian-born and -bred, but I was raised in an immigrant household. As a Chinese American woman who is decidedly not a Southern belle, as someone once tried to call me, my various identities often shape my writing.

My bond with books began in preschool, when I learned how to read before my older brother. As a shy child and teenager, I retreated behind the pages of library books before eventually realizing that a written voice could be just as powerful as a spoken one.

Having inherited a love of languages from my quadrilingual mother, I earned a BA in French and my MA and PhD in French Literature. In college, my writing professor encouraged me to submit pieces for publication, and like the nerd that I still am, my very first published pieces were homework assignments.

I've remained close to the classroom, teaching English to high schoolers in Laon, France; English Language Arts to second graders in Washington, DC; and French and writing to college students in Ithaca, New York. Currently, I serve as a pre-major advisor and read, write, and crochet in between helping students.

*All opinions are my own and are not affiliated or representative of UVA.