One graduate explored international cultures—including her own—as a student at Fresno Pacific University.
Hla Lena Vang is from Fresno, but her parents are from Laos. Contacts she made on campus led her to spend the year following her 2014 graduation doing service work in the Southeast Asian nation with SALT (Serving and Learning Together), a program of the Christian international relief organization Mennonite Central Committee. She loved learning about her family’s culture. “I think one of the main reasons why I pursued education was to make my parents proud,” Vang said.
Vang also enjoyed a travel abroad experience in India and a mission trip to Mexico, which further enhanced her social work major. “Fresno Pacific has empowered me to learn about global issues and social justice,” she said. Among the interests Vang developed was working with international students.
Like many who come to FPU, Vang is a first-generation university student. “Being the first one in my family to graduate college is pretty exciting,” she said. In addition to broadening her horizons, the university offered academic quality and a supportive environment. “I’m able to have interaction with the professors,” she added. “Pursuing my education has been the best investment I’ve made.”