So the first question is where were you born ?

In tokyo, japan.
In, tokyo japan? And then um. Can you tell me how life - or how long did you live in japan?
On and off until I was about 4.
Do you remember anything/, Like how it was over there?
Hm hmm.
Oh can you tell me a little bit about it?
* Frances eating a japanese bun*
Totally different from the U.S
Okay, if you could pick 3 major things that are different what would those be?
*Frances eating a japanese bun*
Food, housing, daily living. People. Its just different
Yeah just like different customs that people have?
But. you have to remember my mom was a widowed uh military widow. She got really sick for 2
months and she went back to her family.And so i had 12 adults were there taking care of a
child . so then she went back to the united states, so I started school. I didnt speak english but
my mom spoke a little bit. And basically we had to move into a country that was all asian to a
country that was racist to asians.
Yeah.
There was only one apartment where japanese live in. it was still discriminatory housing back
then. And I came to being of multi family to a single parent home. So it was a big shift.
Yeah, hmm ok. And then when you were my age did you live here?
Hm hmm.
Can you tell me when you were my age what did you want to be when you were older?
When I was 16?
Hm hmm.
When i was a junior?
Hmm.

When I was a junior that was my last year of high school.

Oh yeah. What did you want to be or do at that age?
I knew I was going to college. And I knew I was probably, going into the mental health field.
Because , my father was already in the mental health science and social services, since he was
a professor. I already had the idea that I would probably go into that area of work. You the health
sciences field and stuff like that. I started doing what you're kind of doing with an internship
following around a psychiatrist and a psychologist. And then I had already started to do an
internship in a local mental health facility state hospital.
Alright. And then what colleges or college did you go to?
I had two choices because my residency cost for out of state so I could either go to california
because that's where we still had some residency , and also in New Mexico where we had some
residency there as well. So I only applied to 2. Because of financial strife I had the veteran funds
from my deceased father , and my parents had saved some money but i still needed to afford
the other costs and stuff. So , I had to go in state tuition.So I got accepted to new mexico, but
then UC Sandiego was where I always wanted to go but, then they said since I was only 17 they
had tooo many students who were 18 so they said i could come when I was 18. But then Id
have to wait a year because there were so many students. And I was like Oh no this isnt
gonna work. Ya know Im not staying with my parents for another year. So I went to the
University of New Mexico.
Oh ok. And when you were there what were you majors or major?
I had a double major in psych and social and a minor in dance
Oh nice and what kind of dance?
I had done professional ballet until that time period, I went to a ballet school. And then when i
was there they had a dance department, and a couple teachers from juilliard.
Wow.
And then I danced, modern & ballet , jazz.
How long have you been dancing?
All my life.
All your life? So you started when you were super little?
I was thrown into those classes at around 4 or 5.But I didnt start the ballet until I was 8. And I
went there every day. I didn't start going there until i was 8 because they want you to have the
attention span.
Yeah ok , that makes sense. And then did you ever think of going to like an art school to dance?

I wanted to be a dancer. I wanted to dance with alber eivy or someone like that. Because I knew
no white ballet company would take me , I look too different. But my father was really smart,
both my parents. What they did is that they showed me , they gave me a list of a dancers salary
compared to other salaries and musicians and dancers were the lowest two on the scale . So i
was like oh ok. They said ok you could do it but , you wouldn't be able to make such a living
off of it.
Oh wow , so did you ever think of going to juilliard or something like that?
You know I think because my parents were really bent on an academic program probably didn't
see it that way as well. And then I think the other thing too is being a kid born in another
country , whose mom is not familiar with the diversity and opportunity in america and the
american education. I don't think those were ya know, looking back on it and saying , why didn't
i do that?. At that time those weren't the things that I thought of as options for me. Culturally is
just wasnt on my radar.
Yeah.
And most asian parents think - oh and I also played the piano , and asian parents think of things
as a hobby and not a
Do you feel like growing up the whole racial aspect was a really big thing? And do you ever feel
like that kind of held you back from doing certain things? And then how so?
Well, when I was growing up it was a lot more racist. Especially around the 6th, pearl harbor day
people, were always going to blame me for pearl harbor at school, LIke sure i'm personally
responsible for pearl harbor. I think when you are- especially also asian female or asian mixed
female there was a lot more sexual harassment and preconceived notion about asian females
and such . so you get a lot of harassment. And it still continues all the way through . In fact Ill sit
down with asian women or asian mixed women and we will all crack up about the jokes and
same things that men say to us , and we'll all kind of laugh and say did you get this, did you get
that . Because we all had some of the same experiences. But also in some places I was the
only asian mixed child or only asian child in some of the places. For instance In new mexico it
was 2 and i was one of them. And then in kentucky and lexington there was maybe 10 , but at
my school i would sometimes i would be the only one.
I feel like that happens a lot with minorities in general where its like Im the only person in here
kind of thing. After college what was your first line of action. What did you first start doing?
So I went to undergraduate then I went to graduate , then to law school . So I attended law
school for a year and a half and I hated it , and i was lucky because i had always wanted to go
into mental health law. So i was lucky that my friends worked for the county they worked in the
conservers office which is the mental health board and so I got called and offered a job so I got
to work there.
How long did you stay within that?
I stayed in adult mental health services for about 7 years or so. Then I stayed for another 18.

How did you start working with USO?

In october is when I started and previously. I was in tricare patient therapy i was a special
consultant evaluator for the courts and for the school districts for special ed kids and so I also
got the grant. They were looking for a clinician someone in mental health who could also work
The next question is , with USO what has been the most rewarding aspect of what you do here?
Working with cinthya
*i laughed*
Really?
Yeah, yeah , yeah . I think because it's really nice to be able to pass on. Because you know i
had interned with mentors and people who worked with me and helped me kind of pull together
what we were working on just like im doing with you. And i think its really exciting to kick off that
next generation. And i think its really important to have that off the ground experience because
you know , you're going to do really well , and you'll be able to pass that on as well.
To pass it on and everything. Awww well thats super cool. Alright and then another question i
had about your childhood or your teenage years is , what were some goals that you made for
yourself at about my age and if you reached them at all?
*nervous laughter*
You're recording this?
Yeah i have to
Oh alright well, I was one of those kids that was probably on the bank of being incorrigible . I
think we talked about this a little bit more.
Uh yeah
And i was probably on the cusp of ya know , i was smart i did all of the work that wasnt the
problem and academically i went to college and everything ya know. Because of family issues ,
things, and location . I was probably on the cusp of being one of those incorrigible kids that
could have ended up in juvie. Or probably just gone off into a different direction. So I'm just
really lucky that i think i had enough grounding and other peer support , and people around me
that wanted to go to college that got me thinking, i need to get into college. For me college
was my out, my saftey.So by being drived throughout that whole time i would just wnat to get my
stuff done so i could leave home and go to college.
You sound like me * laughs*
That was it
That's how i am
Ya but you weren't doing the things that i was doing , thats why im glad
And then the next question is , are you where you want to be in life? At the moment

Other than living in hawaii and running on the beach with my dogs. Ya know, Yeah i had/ have a
really rich life. And it's been more than health and mental health I've been able to open
businesses in mexico and puerto vallarta . Down there i own ice companies ,restaurants, ya
know salsa clubs and i've done the mental health peices and i've done consulting. And i think
just having that fundamental solid basic general arts liberal arts education plus and a passion if
you find your joy. You can try and put that time in its served me well all these years
Thats really cool. And then my last question is if you could change any aspect of your life what
would it be and why?
Id probably want to be a philanthropist
And why would you want to do that?
Because ya know, i think that falls into wanting to be a healthy person and helping people .
Because there's so many things you would want to do and i think that the thing that keeps you
fresh and young thinking is when you can think of things that you want to do and things that you
would like to have the opportunity to do . And give and certainly have the financial resources so
you have the money to put together to do those things.