Gators Convene For A Virtual Dinner Across Multiple Time Zones and Multiple Generations

The UF Association of Asian Alumni (AAA) and the Asian American Student Union (AASU) brought together 45 alumni and students for an ultimate family dinner. Alumni and students were divided into 8 virtual dining tables and chatted over their favorite Gainesville memories while enjoying and supporting a local favorite restaurant Bento. The night ended with a quick would-you-rather game for all participants that brought about laughter and enjoyment from questions such as "Would you rather pull an all-nighter at Library West or Marston Library?" The AAA and AASU look forward to hosting more virtual events together in the future. 

Participating Dining Alumni

Phillip Cheng
Class of 2011

After graduation, Phillip joined Teach for America Hawaii and lived on the Big Island of Hawaii for 5 years. He moved to San Francisco in 2016 to pursue a Master's Degree in Asian American Studies and now works for Stanford University in student affairs. 
#Teacher #AsianAmericanStudies

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Lauren Vu
Class of 2019

After completing her psychology degree, Lauren joined Teach for America S.F. Bay Area in 2019. Furthering her love for mentorship and educating others, she currently resides in Oakland as a 6th grade STEM teacher!
#Psychology #aasuhistory

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Vi Payulert
Class of 2012

After studying Architecture at UF, Vi pursued a career in Commercial Real Estate in Boston and is now living in San Francisco. She is a mom to an active toddler and working for a notable #tech company!
#CommercialRealEstate #Mom 

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George Perez
Class of 2003 & 2014

After his first graduation, George worked in Houston as a developer in the oil industry for several years before deciding to move back to Gainesville. He then pursued his Master's in Computer Science at UF while continuing to work in logistics as a lead developer.
#ComputerEngineer #Musician

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Henry Nguyen
Class of 2019 & 2020

After graduating with a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree in Biomedical Engineering, Henry now works for the United States Patent and Trademark Office located in Alexandria, VA as a Patent Examiner for biomedical engineer related patents. However, due to the pandemic, Henry currently lives in Tallahassee, FL and works from home.
#UFBME #Foodie

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Chao Sun
Class of 2012

After completing his Master’s Degree at UF, Chao worked in the construction industry for nine years. He is now transitioning into a full-time life coach and coaches immigrants on how to achieve their American Dream. He currently resides in the Washington, DC area.
#coachforlife #immigrant

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Amanda Quintos
Class of 2012

Amanda Quintos graduated from the University of Florida with a BA degree in Theatre and earned an MFA degree in Motion Pictures from the University of Miami. She works as an editor at UF/IFAS Communications.
#editor #finearts

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Diana Nguyen Molina
​Class of 2012

Diana graduated with her Chemical Engineering degree from UF in 2012. She now lives in Houston, TX, with her Gator husband and 2 dogs. She loves to travel and to try all the good eats in Houston!
#Engineer #Traveler

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Michael Ho
​Class of 2019

After completing his degree in Food and Resource Economics, Michael joined Navy Federal Credit Union in 2019. He is looking to pursue his masters in Data Science.
#UFFRE #lofi

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Pilar Thangwaritorn
​Class of 2019

After obtaining her psychology degree from UF, Pilar continued her academic career at the University of Kansas to pursue a PhD in Clinical Psychology. She currently lives in Lawrence where she is able to do Alzheimer’s research and be a part of Midwestern culture.
#HealthPsych #culture

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Eliana Guerrero
​Class of 2020

After studying Microbiology and Cell science at UF, Eliana worked as a medical assistant at a private primary care practice during her gap year. She is now planning her move to Orlando, FL to begin her graduate studies at Physician Assistant school where she hopes to grow the skills to enhance her future patients’ health care experience.
#Microbio #PA

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Vanessa Kwong
​Class of 2010

Since graduation Vanessa has lived in many cities across the country working in finance and the food tech startup world. She received her MBA at the University of Pennsylvania and currently resides in Oakland, CA with her husband and two dogs. She also works as a Chief of Staff for Box, a cloud content management tech company.
#tech #mba # food

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Zachariah Chou
​Class of 2020

After graduating with degrees in political science and journalism, Zachariah now works as a speech and debate instructor and hopes to start a speechwriting internship later this year. He is currently making good use of his stimulus check, eating his way through Houston, TX.
#CivicallyEngaged #Writing

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Patrick Lee
​Class of 2018

After graduation with his bachelors in public health, Patrick pursued his masters in healthcare administration at the University of Washington in Seattle. He has recently completed his masters and is now working at Aledade Inc. as a Practice Success Analyst, building up the business and performance rates of physician practices all over the nation.
#healthcareleader #business

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George Liu
​Class of 2007

George graduated from UF with a degree in Computer Information Science and is a former Chinese American Student Association (CASA) president.  He now works in Miami for BMO Global Asset Management and in his free time enjoys video games, financial planning, and mentorship.
#Techie #NewDad

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Jessie Wang
​Class of 2017

After graduating UF, Jessie went on to earn her M.Ed. and is currently a middle school ESE teacher South Florida. She is starting her Special Education Ph.D. program this fall at Vanderbilt. Jessie's research examines minority student experiences and disproportionality in education.
#specialeducation #disabilityresearcher