Yia Kou Xiong

What are your hobbies/interests?

My favorite hobbies, I have quite a few, but I really enjoy swimming. I initially wanted to learn how to swim after almost drowning at the Como Pool in Saint Paul. Adventurous me wanted to try their cliff jumping and that did not go well. But, I survived somehow... Anyway, after that, I pondered a lot and finally decided to join the swimming team during my junior year in high school. I was not the best at it, so I was placed in lane 1 (the lane for beginner swimmers). I supposed that is why I felt swimming was not as hard as Cross Country. Despite being in lane 1, the coaches pushed me to compete in the races, that was a scary experience haha. But, now I am glad to say that I am much better with swimming and continue to practice quite frequently

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What’s your favorite book? Movie? Show?

I like to watch a lot of stuff, but mostly Chinese dramas such as the Condor Heroes Trilogy, Demi-Gods Semi-Devils, Swordsman, and so many more. But the best drama for me would have to be Journey to the West 1996 and 2011. It's about the Monkey King Sun Wukong. I do also watch many other shows too, so feel free to ask me questions. However, I do not watch a lot of new shows so I may not be up to trend .

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Favorite song? Artist?

There are so many songs that I like... I cannot choose lol. Can't I just put down my playlist? (Check out his playlist below!!)

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What do you do on your free time? How do you relax? 

During my free time, I rest and watch YouTube. That's how my typical day goes. I don't go anywhere unless needed. Here and there, I would hang out with some friends, but that's about it.

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What motivates you? 

What motivates me are my promises to myself, others, and so on. I just don't like breaking promises, granted I have broken many before, but I tried not to. I value promises a lot. It is what pushes me forward and strives to do the best, even when I am at my lowest. I hope it makes sense lol.

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Where are you from?

I was born in Wat Thamkrabok (I believe it is called Qhov Tsua in Hmong), located slightly North of Bangkok, Thailand. There is a funny story to my birth and the meaning of my name, but that's a story for another time . Anyways, I lived there until September of 2005 when my family migrated to the United States, reuniting my relatives. We were supposed to be the first, but because of complications, we ended up being the last. Fortunately, all my relatives were able to migrate to the States and no one is left behind. Here, I lived in Saint Paul, Minnesota for the last 16 years? It went by very quickly, and I am already in college.

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What's your major?

I major in International Business and Entrepreneurial Management. Initially, as a child, I wanted to become an astronaut (deep down, I still do too), because I love viewing the stars, space, planets, etc. To me, it is like a piece of art. I am also very fond of the concept of the multiverse and wonder what is at the end of our universe. There is just so much to explore out there. Sadly, that is not what I ended up studying. During High School, I was introduced to a Thai Drama called Game Rai Game Ruk where the protagonist was a CEO of an Airline. That sparked my interest in business and made me want to create my own airline called, Seven Universes Airline . Senior year came, I realized that although I do want to run my business and work with people internationally, I don't have any interests in owning an Airline, and began questioning my career. I pretty much went into college with no plan in mind. It was only recently that I came to see that my passion lies in education and providing education to children who do not have that opportunity, something that my parents were able to provide for me. Additionally, another reason is that I realized that even though there are so many world issues I want to solve such as world hunger, diseases, war, pollution, human trafficking, etc, I am only one person. I may be talented but I do not possess all the skills to solve everything by myself. There has to be someone out there, who is able to do what I can't, but they just don't have the chance to do so because of no education. These are my reasons for why my majors are what it is, and I will work towards creating a business that provides the opportunities for all to be educated.

 

What are your values?

There are lots of things that I value, but I'll choose something for this prompt. I value friendship/family. They're essentially a part of who I am today. Without them, I won't be where I am now. My family was always there for me and loved me deeply throughout my whole life, and I am truly grateful for all of it. Words cannot express my love for them. Regarding friendship, many of my friends and I go back a long way to our elementary school days. I am thankful that we continued to be friends through elementary, middle, and high school together, and are still friends to this day. I remember seeing a saying that once you go into middle school and high school, you'll lose most of your elementary school friends, but I am proud to say that I and my friends beat that saying. They are my brothers and sisters even though we share different parents.

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Why did you join HMSA?

It was a last-minute decision. I believe I submitted my HMSA application one or two days before it was due? I met these amazing friends during a summer job. I was hosting a UofM tour event for the high school students I work with. That was when my co-worker got into contact with HMSA, seeing if they are able to do a presentation at the event. Thanks to that, I was able to be connected with HMSA and its current BMs (who are now my wonderful friends). There at the event, they jokingly said that I should join HMSA. Then boom, here I am lol, just kidding. I didn't think of it much at the time, but after the event I did some thinking. I knew my brother and cousin were going to be new freshmen in college, and as their older brother, I wanted to provide them with a great college experience, unlike what I experienced. Another reason is that I was planning to graduate early, and wanted to do something meaningful during my last year, and at the same time meet new people. And, thankfully I did, because I made some great, talented, amazing, intelligent, genius, and everything else, friends. I have learned so much from them. You all should get to know them too.

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What are your hopes/aspirations/goals?

Something that I really want to do... I'll leave it at that. When it is time, I will tell you all.