with stories of my parents suffering and poor living conditions; I was emotionally connected and petitioned to go "boots on ground". 
The experience was out of this world and a huge privilege.
I will never forget when the little Hmong children came up to me and thanked me for helping build them a school, for I had been the only American Hmong person they'd ever seen. 
My world can never be the same after this experience. And since then, I've been dreaming up ways to raise my own 50k to build a school on behalf of my parents. A portion of all my photography earnings goes towards making this happen.

I am a member of a creative entrepreneurship worldwide group called The Rising Tide Society. Our motto is community over competition. But more than that, it's a community founded on friendship and helping one another. 
In a single day; we raised over 50,000 to build a school for Pencils of Promise. Now, here is where it gets a little sappy.
We weren't matched with a school or location until early 2018. When I found out we got matched with Laos...I broke into tears.
As a child of Hmong refugees; my parents came from Laos when they escaped the Vietnam War in the early 80's. Having grown up

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