Mee YangLena Leuci
Mee Yang cares for her community not only with compassion, but with her medical knowledge as well. She hopes to continue serving her community once she completes her medical residency. Ms. Yang currently serves as a board member of the Southeast Asian Education Development (SEAED), a Milwaukee-based 501(c)(3) community-based organization "whose mission is to develop educational programming and provide assistance to the local Southeast Asian community." Although she is a new member, she is excited to work with her colleagues. Her passion for community-engaged work comes from of her family’s deep history of migration, loss, and displacement. Ms. Yang was born in Thailand. She came to the United States with her parents, settling in California, when she was seven years old. After graduating high school, she married her husband. She moved to Wisconsin from California and upon gaining Wisconsin state residency, Yang began her education at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She transferred to Mount Mary University and graduated in 2009. Thereafter, she attended medical school in St. Lucia and did her clinical rotations in Chicago. Today, she is studying for her boards to ultimately apply for a residency in the Milwaukee area. When Ms. Yang’s grandparents joined her family in the United States, she was eleven and was the only one in the family who could speak English well. So, the family approached her any time they needed a translator. She enjoyed translating and helping out, and today she continues helping others no matter who it is or where she is. Ms. Yang understands how to overcome and recognize cultural differences, and she has a deep appreciation and understanding of Hmong culture. However, she is also thankful for the much-greater opportunities that have been opened to her in the US, especially as a woman. She has faced difficulties and struggles trying to balance the two cultures and finds it necessary to help others like her resolve cultural conflicts. Mee Yang waits with anticipation as she plans her future as a medical professional. Aware of the difficulties she and her family have experienced as well as the opportunities she has been given, Ms. Yang is determined to make them worthwhile. She is happy to serve her community and believes that although minority groups do struggle at first, especially when they are new arrivals in the United States, they ultimately overcome those challenges and achieve just as much as anyone else. This is a positive lesson that she learned from the Hmong community, and she embodies this knowledge every day in her life. |
Explanation of SEAED
Passion for Helping People Medically
Being a Minority
Overcoming Struggle
|