I grew up in Payson, Utah — a small town that was home to 10,000 people in the mid-1990s. My mother immigrated here from the Philippines and my dad’s mother immigrated here from Switzerland. My mother homeschooled me, while my dad was a high school teacher. Growing up, many of my friends’ parents worked blue-collar jobs, such as construction working, truck driving, or farming. I’ve always valued hard work, but school never really came easy for me, which is one reason I think my mother homeschooled me. I had a speaking impediment for most of my childhood. I felt like I didn't fit in. I was anxious when meeting new people and very self-conscious in social settings. When I was 11, I finally started attending school with other kids. Over the next several years, I thought I just was not built for school. In fact, up until a few days before the graduation ceremony, I wasn't even expected to graduate. After finally finishing high school, college was the last thing on my mind. I served a two-year religious mission in Washington D.C., and when I got home, I still did not want to go to college. I had no idea what I wanted to do at all — or what I was even passionate about.

Despite my desire to avoid school, Utah Valley University took a chance on me, and I enrolled. I distinctly remember a conversation I had with my dad in which we discussed a wage of $30 an hour. If I got a job offer at that wage, then I could drop out of school. I was solely focused on finding that $30-an-hour job. It caused my grades to suffer and proved to be a difficult task as I didn't want to do manual labor or sales. Between my sophomore and junior year, I was introduced to the world of startups. A family friend had just started a tech company in San Francisco with a few of his colleagues. They needed an intern to do basic data entry and customer support. It seemed a lot better than my current job of waiting tables, so I accepted. Like many startups, the business grew rapidly. My responsibilities rose as the team grew to trust me more. Though the company failed after a year and a half, it was exhilarating to be part of that ride. Every few weeks I was flying out to San Francisco to meet with clients and the rest of the team to try out new ideas. While in the Bay Area, I got to meet incredible people, such as executives and Vice Presidents at companies like Facebook and Yelp, and even some premier investors in Silicon Valley and other innovative entrepreneurs. I wanted to be like these people who are changing the world. Something stood out to me about these highly impactful individuals — most nearly all of them had excelled in their education, and that changed the game for me.

I was determined to change my narrative on how I viewed school’s role in education. I developed a “why.” I knew if I wanted to impact the world like the leaders I met in Silicon Valley, I needed to start with myself. Seeing as I still didn't know what my major was, I decided the best way to overcome my childhood fears of reading, writing, and speaking with others was to face those fears head-on. Therefore, I chose communication as my major. UVU provided me with many of the resources to make those goals a reality. 

Since then, another UVU student and I built our first startup called Wasatch Event Services, a staffing solution serving the hospitality space. At the time, we were two broke college students living off Costa Vida and dreams of being entrepreneurs. We needed money to get off the ground and were fortunate enough to win funding in a startup competition that UVU hosted. UVU also provided us with mentors, employees, and resources to solve our problems. Our business ultimately fizzled out, but it helped us learn about the different problems entrepreneurs face.

I think it's worth pointing out that as I started investing more time into my education, it invested back into me. As a sophomore, I joined the Wolverine Ambassador program where I visited local high schools to promote higher education, particularly in minority groups. In my junior year, I served in the UVUSA Academic Senate, where I advocated for students within my major. I most recently served as the student chair for the UVU Foundation Ambassadors, where our team of 10 people shared the student voice and sought to build lasting relationships with donors, dignitaries, and community leaders. With guidance and direction from some of my peers on campus, I was fortunate enough to meet board members like Lindsay Hadley. She encouraged me to work with her startup, Hadley Impact Consulting, a consulting firm focused on supporting clients with social impact issues. While working for Lindsay, I got to help Lady Gaga's foundation raise money for mental health awareness, and help representatives from the countries of Zambia, Cambodia, and Guatemala promote tourism to their countries. Another set of individuals that took a chance on me were Matt Peterson and Jefferson Moss, the program directors of UVU’s Wolverine Fund, a student-run venture capital fund. The program allowed us to meet with entrepreneurs and invest in their startups. Participating in that group was like Christmas morning every week since I was captivated by the startup scene. I poured my heart and soul into that program, and it led to internships with Album VC, a top-performing venture capital firm in our region, and Portfolio Advisors, an $80 billion investment management firm outside of New York City. UVU helped me unlock possibilities and chase these opportunities, proving that my past does not have to dictate my future.

I officially graduate in April 2022 from UVU. After graduation, I first want to keep enjoying life with my new wife, Amy, who finishes nursing school next spring. I also want to continue finding my place within the startup and venture capital community. I’ll continue at the startup I recently joined called MX, which is a data company focused on improving the money experience. Additionally, I have plans to apply to and attend business school over the next few years.

I’ll always be that same Filipino Swiss Rocky Mountain raised kid, but UVU gave me, the small-town kid, hope to impact the community instead of feeling directionless. I no longer feel anxious about my path, and I have purpose.