Empowered by Will
[Applause]
imagine yourself as an immigrant child
living in a foreign land
you struggle to speak its language by
the time you’re six your father abandons
the family
you live in a gang-infested neighborhood
where drugs plague the streets
with no formal education or skills your
single mother works three jobs
to support the family of your younger
sister and you
but she makes just enough money to live
in a garage
and call the ragged carpet floor a bit
that was my reality our family didn’t
have a lot but we had enough
my sister and i were quickly exposed to
life as our mother knew it
society labeled us as poor uneducated
ghetto vietnamese immigrants
we were treated as second-class citizens
and all we had were core values to live
by
there are three core values that shaped
me pride
courage and strength as i share my story
i’ll define these values that allow me
to live a life
empowered by my will when i was seven i
had a dream of receiving a golden ticket
out of the streets
a full-ride athletic scholarship and
from that point through high school i
trained like a maniac to achieve that
dream
and one of the most important lessons my
mother taught me growing up is that once
you begin something
you finish it you never stop halfway
so i took that lesson to heart and i
traded the local park where gangsters
try to recruit me
but i stayed focused on training for
basketball by doing sprints
drills and practicing to be the best i
could be and as i trained i recalled
moments of my mom coming home
exhausted from work and still mustering
the energy to make a home-cooked meal
for my sister and me
my mom is the epitome of what hard work
and sacrifice looks like
so when i trained i developed the first
value of pride
and knowing that receiving this golden
ticket was much greater than myself
it was for my family it was to alleviate
my mother’s worries
and be an example for my sister that
pride empowered me to push harder
dig deeper and go further for when i
thought i was tired during my training
but how often do we see people quit when
things start to get too hard
or when they’re too tired or when it’s
too early in the morning
see many people stop halfway and quit
because they don’t have pride in what
they do
they quit because their purpose is only
about themselves
and that’s selfish because at a certain
point in your life you have to
understand that life is not just
about you if every choice and decision
that you make is just about you
one day you’re going to cross paths with
something much tougher than you it will
knock you down and make you quit
because you don’t have a driving force
for your purpose
i believe that when you take pride and a
purpose that is greater than yourself
you must honor the sacrifices that
others have made for you
then there’s nothing that’s too hard you
push through exhaustion you bounce out
of bed before the sun even rises
adversity becomes nothing and the moment
you understand that life isn’t just
about you it’s about taking pride in the
things that you do as an individual
for the people around you so that every
day you can look in the mirror
and know you gave everything you had to
achieve your dream pride becomes your
driving force
when i was 12 the city evicted us from a
garage home
and throughout those years we live in
homes of the same nature
when i got to middle school my sister
and i were transferred to a wealthier
school district
using the address from extended family
on our father’s side
see i wasn’t performing well
academically at this time so my sister
and i were being tutored after school at
their house by our uncle
this resulted in us being physically
beaten and verbally abused
i was angry be down and belittle more
importantly i was afraid
but i didn’t tell my mom because i
didn’t want to worry so i lived in fear
and doubt
but when i got to high school i made the
basketball team my freshman year
which was another step closer to my
dream becoming a reality but i was
benched most this season
and that’s that season the head
basketball coach said will you’re behind
the curb anyway you need to come back
next year
my dream was shattered i was distraught
and during this time a campus supervisor
a very large and distinguished man
pulled me aside and he said will you’re
not a basketball player
you’re gonna go play football i was
struck with awe
and respect because this man saw
something in me and he told me what to
do
and i want you to understand that
football never crossed my mind so
naturally i was scared to ask my mom
and how i was raised is that many
immigrant families don’t raise their
children to play sports
those families come to this country to
give their children opportunities they
never could imagine for themselves
so my mom raised me to focus on my
studies get good grades
and with the idea that asian boys don’t
play football
so i went home and asked my mom mama can
i please play football next year and
guess what she said
hell no so i convinced her to join track
to throw shot put in discus
for the football coach and after much
persistence and nagging
she finally played football for the
upcoming season
and throughout my high school years i
was challenged with negativity from
teammates coaches even my family i was
always told will you’re too small you’re
not strong enough you’re not fast enough
you’re stupid you’re worthless you’re
nothing
so the theme was i was never enough one
night my mom told me to quit stop
wasting my time because
i wasn’t doing the family any favors but
i was empowered by my will to persevere
i cried myself to sleep that night and i
knew that she didn’t understand
but she didn’t have to because i did i
persevered with action and used their
negativity
to fuel my drive i was empowered by my
will
to amplify my mind and body beyond
physiological limits
to break a strength record and become
one of the strongest athletes in school
history
in that process i achieved multiple
athletic titles in both track
and football yet
i still haven’t received that golden
ticket i was uncertain and afraid
the outcome and all that fear and doubt
that i lived with brought me back into
the headspace of that battered 12 year
old boy
at that point it questioned it made me
question as to whether i should
continue pursuing my dream
at that critical moment i could have
quit but i knew if i quit
that would have made all those people
write about me i would have lived that
regret
but i was determined to prove to myself
i was right about myself
that’s when i learned the second value
of courage to believe in me
especially when i was challenged by
negativity
because regardless of anyone believes in
you or not
you must have the courage to believe in
yourself otherwise is meaningless
so i ask you have you ever had that
gut-wrenching fear of taking a risk in
anything
but you still did it anyway that’s
called courage
you can’t have courage without fear and
when you have the courage to believe in
yourself to face your fear
that fear no longer controls you it no
longer controls your actions
or dictates your decisions courage comes
from those moments you look fear in his
face and you say try me
now each of those moments become a
reminder as another success
or what you have mentally endured and
overcome you will always have fears in
his life
so you must have the courage to believe
in yourself to face your fears so
there’ll be no room left for doubt
in the spring of my senior year halfway
through track season
i received a phone call from west point
the united states military academy
offered that golden ticket
on top of that they said well we want
you to come out here to play football
and throwing track for a son
i was so excited i said coach what i
signed sir
and he laughed and he said well you
gotta come visit the campus first
unfortunately i was sponsored to fly out
to new york with a teammate to visit
that campus
that campus was beautifully green
spacious and the air was
crisp with honor and tradition we toured
that magnificent campus and got to the
athletic office
sat down the coach presented me that
letter of intent
and as you can imagine at this moment
i’m physically trembling with excitement
and when i signed that letter my dream
came true
i did it mama now all i need to do is
finish track and be ready after
graduation i finished track with the
best shot put throw in my life to
receive
third place in the state of california i
was invincible nothing could have
stopped me
three days before high school graduation
i attempted to do a back flip on a
trampoline
i landed on the back of my head my
forehead touched my chest i heard a snap
immediately my body seized and slowly
sank into
the trampoline i laid there and felt as
if all the breath was snatched from my
body
the pain felt as if i was being stabbed
by millions of needles as a hot frying
pan
was searing the surface of my skin that
radiated from my neck
through the tips of my fingers and toes
i realized that i broke my neck
i couldn’t wiggle my fingers on my toes
i couldn’t lift my arms or my legs
i was completely paralyzed from the neck
down
wide awake and gasping for life i
thought to myself surely this won’t
change the course of my life
i will persevere but little did i know
that this would be the most physically
and mentally intense journey of my life
i was rushed to the hospital and what
the doctor said is that here’s my c5
vertebra
this rubber band will represent my
spinal cord and beneath that’s the c6
i suffered a compression fracture that
stretched my spinal cord to its absolute
maximum and it got stuck under the c6
he said if i had moved another quarter
inch i would have
snapped my spinal cord and lost my life
and before surgery i was put into the
halo traction device fixed to the side
of my head
so we had to drill into the side of my
head with every turn that drill i could
hear a crunch
and feel it carving deeper into my skull
they added 80 pounds of force against my
head over the span of eight hours
realign my spine
that pain was so immense it would cause
me to pass out
and i woke up to relive the pain of my
mistake
but what hurt most was looking to to my
mom’s and sister’s eyes to
subconsciously tell them that i failed
after surgery the doctor told my family
to be a quadriplegic for the rest of my
life
it was my personal health at that moment
the only dialogue in my mind was no
disrespect doc but you don’t know me
i’ve been working for my moment since i
was seven years old
you didn’t come up live in a garage
sleeping on the floor
you were physically beaten and verbally
attacked yet stay focused and never made
an excuse
i was completely paralyzed for nine days
a prison of my own body
and in those nine days i lost 40 pounds
like that
i was a skeleton of who i was i was
angry with myself
i felt sorry for myself i cursed the
skies and asked why me
until i realized that my tears were
going to make me walk again
so i shifted my focus and energy to
trying to move
instead of asking why me i said try me
the next day i moved my finger
and i lifted my arms then i was
transferred to a rehab center to learn
how to move again
everything that i was prior to this
injury was obsolete
learning how to move eclipsed all the
records and titles i held
the only things that remained the same
were my name the support from the people
who saw something in me
and being empowered by my will
when i got to the rehab center i trained
for two times a day for four weeks
and here’s a video of the process of my
[Laughter]
recovery
good job
the process was excruciatingly painful
and
frustrating to relearn basic movements
it felt like the exhaustion
of running a marathon just to lift my
leg
it felt like being winded from 100
meters
just to curl my arms and the pain never
subsided because my nerves were still
haywire
but as i trained i recalled as i trained
my
pride shifted to honoring the people who
saw something in me when i couldn’t
possibly see it in myself
i reminded myself of the courage i had
from with standing past pain
negativity and exhaustion which gave me
the courage to believe myself to move
again
my pride and courage gave me the
strength to endure
and fight this battle to free my body
from his own prison
that’s when i discovered the final value
of strength
it wasn’t because of looking big or
being physically stronger but my
strength came from the power of my will
i believe strength can only be developed
by having pride and courage
so i want you to think of your mind as a
muscle that you want to grow
your pride is your driving force your
why your courage to believe in yourself
to endure the process and persevere and
a muscle can only grow through
resistance
that causes to suffer struggle and break
down before it can come back stronger to
withstand future much tougher challenges
the same as your mind
strength is found through adversity and
if you have pride and courage
you will develop the strength to
overcome that adversity
and after 40 days of the most physically
mentally and psychologically intense
training of my life
i learn how to hold a pencil sit in a
chair
to stand and walk again
they call me the walking miracle and i’m
blessed to be here today
the majority of my recovery took another
two years of consistent hard work
now six years later i still strive to
improve myself every day
there are many things that weren’t
supposed to happen for me
i wasn’t supposed to make it out the
ghetto i made it out and here i am to
speak with you
i wasn’t supposed to be a football
player i became one of the strongest
athletes in my school history
i wasn’t supposed to get a scholarship
or go to college
i received a full-ride football
scholarship to west point even though i
decided not to go to west point still
i’m the first person in my family to
graduate from right here
at cal state long beach with a bachelor
of science degree kinesiology for
physical education
you heard that right
[Applause]
when i broke my neck i wasn’t supposed
to walk again
i battled through now i can run and it
revealed my true purpose to educate
inspire
and share my story so i decided to build
a brand for people to represent a symbol
that they can be proud of
i was inspired by my core values to use
a trident to represent pride
courage and strength to live an
empowered life achieve success and give
back to the community
not that’s when empowered by will was
born
now i’m partnering with the nazi school
program too mentor children underserved
communities and i plan on traveling
throughout the country to inspire hope
teach lessons and build those programs
as an inspirational speaker
and i share my story
not to brag about my accomplishments
the true purpose in sharing my story is
to
inspire you to have pride in what you do
to hold your head high
for you to have the courage to believe
in yourself and stand tall
for you to have the strength to overcome
your adversity and walk
strong i want you to use my story
as an example of how the power of your
will can control your reality and change
what is supposed to happen
because the reality is that there’ll
always be struggle and challenges
but instead of being victim to it and
using that as an excuse use the
adversity to change your reality
also whatever adversity you may face
does not mean you’re permanently trapped
there
it may seem like a reality but you don’t
have to let it be your reality
remember this if you have pride courage
and strength that means you’re empowered
by will if you’re empowered by will then
you will be unstoppable
[Applause]
thank you
[Applause]