(Photograph by Ivan LaBianca)
As part of Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month, AAOP will be highlighting Asian American community members and providing space for them to share their stories. This story focuses on Muquxi La, a Tibetan Minnesotan who now resides in California, working in the County of San Diego Health & Human Services Agency.
La was born and raised in a rural village in eastern Tibet called Chungba, Lithang. Her mother faced persecution in China, so she sought refuge in India and came to the US along with other Tibetan immigrants. Years later after she settled in the US, she brought her kids from her homeland, Tibet.
La shares her childhood diet with an irony, stating that while she’s lactose-intolerant now, her childhood diet included mostly of dairy and grains. Yak butter, milk, and barley “tsampa” is the staple diet of a nomadic Tibetan family
“I was the epitome of a wild child, climbing trees, herding animals, and horse racing with my younger uncle and friends,” La says. “You could say I didn’t have the most normal childhood. I knew how to ride a horse before I knew how to read and write.”
Since moving to the U.S., La states that the shift from a nomadic lifestyle to a diverse city like New York City was a culture shock. Not only was New York City much more crowded than what she was used to, her peers either spoke Chinese or English — languages that she didn’t really have a grasp on.
However, La says the chaos of the big city was growing on her; going to Central Park, taking the train to Coney Island, and getting a big slice of pizza just around the block.
“At the time, I preferred the New York City jungle over being the only Asian family in the cul-de-sac of a quiet, white, suburban town,” La says. “And in Minnesota, it wasn’t as vibrant with people from different backgrounds, so I had to adjust to a new lifestyle again.”
Like many children of immigrants, La was also pressured to attend a four-year institution for college, to study one of the sciences, and potentially become a doctor.
Eventually, La ended up studying sociology and anthropology after realizing how difficult chemistry classes were but says, “I learned a lot about myself during my time at St. Olaf College,” she says. St Olaf College, is a four year liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota.
“As one of the new students of color on campus, I felt, at times, isolated,” La explains. “I felt I experienced a much different sense of individuality than my white counterparts.”
“I think I was trying to discover a sense of self and belonging and coming from a very different upbringing and cultural background at a white-centered college was much more confusing to navigate than I expected.”
But La says that there were student organizations at St. Olaf that celebrated diversity and multicultural clubs in a way that felt like she belonged.
“A lot of my positive college experiences comes from being with people who shared similar experiences and interests,” La says.
While La ended up not becoming a doctor, she became interested in public health after her medical anthropology and nutrition classes as an undergrad, leading to her applying to various Master’s of Public Health graduate programs across the country.
“Nonprofit was the route I wanted to take after graduation and it helped me gain a lot of knowledge and skills working with people from diverse communities,” La says.
But she wanted to make a bigger impact, so she took a job offer from the County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency.
“The job would allow me to learn from a different lens,” she says, “and also be able to help give resources to other community agencies who serve hard populations that suffer from the gap in our health system.”
But the journey isn’t over.
“I’m excited for what the future holds as far as my professional life and personal life!”