In high school Phavantha Mao never thought about applying to a four-year university. Back then, his mentality was typical of Cambodian American students: “Good schools are for the rich, for kids of another race.”

As he says those words today, however, Mao speaks with a sense of irony: Not only is he a fourth-year engineering student at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB), but he is also president of the Cambodian Student Society. Still, Mao says he wouldn’t be content with just a secure future and material goods.

“When I take a step back, I see a lot of my peers struggling,” he says. “Some already have families. Some have been working at McDonald’s for three or four years.”

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