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Taking the Risk — and Watching It Pay Off
Emily didn't arrive at interest in midwifery by accident. She traces it back to something she noticed as a little girl: the long, curved scar on her mother's abdomen.
Her mother had two C-sections — one for Emily, one for her younger sister. Both children were breech, and with the second birth, the C-section scar was reopened.
“My mom went through so much struggle to bring me into the world,” Emily reflects. “And I just want to pay that gratitude back — by giving women, other moms, the opportunity to have a more relaxing birth."
"So many of us don't know our bodies … because there's not much research about it," she says. "That causes so much confusion — so many misinterpretations and misunderstandings."
Emily’s vision for a future in medicine doesn't stop at the bedside. Emily sees herself one day stepping into women's health research, filling the gaps that have gone unaddressed for too long.
Culture as Compass: The Asian Student Alliance and Lion Dancing
Emily's identity as a Vietnamese American student isn't just a part of who she is — it's a driving force in what she creates and advocates for.
Emily credits the maternal strength and love passed down through generations of her Vietnamese family as an anchor that shapes how she shows up and creates space for others.
At DSST: Conservatory Green, she founded the Asian Student Alliance club, a space to build awareness, celebrate culture, and push back against the normalization of Asian hate that she says is too often dismissed as humor.
"With the recent surge in Asian appreciation, there's also a surge in appropriation," she explains. "Within the Asian community, we've learned to stay quiet rather than create an uproar — and that's made Asian hate feel normalized. I wanted to bring more awareness."
Outside of school, Emily has practiced lion dancing for over five years — a traditional performance art rooted in warding off evil spirits and bringing good luck, most commonly performed during Lunar New Year celebrations. The practice involves athletic stunts inside an elaborate costume, and Emily performs for audiences that are often filled with young children.
"When I'm in the costume, a lot of the audience is little kids," she says, smiling. "I want to bring them a good experience so that in life, if they're having a really stressful time, they can think of a time that was more joyous for them."
It's a small act of care — but it's also a window into how Emily moves through the world.
The Teacher Who Changed Everything: Ms. Sanders and AP Chemistry
Ask Emily about the most transformative moment of her academic career, and she doesn't hesitate.
"AP Chemistry with Ms. Sanders was the biggest, most life-changing class I would ever have."
Emily came to DSST as someone who typically saw something once and understood it immediately. AP Chemistry was her first real encounter with struggle, and it shook her.
"I was getting really low scores on tests. I was feeling like — am I in the wrong program? Is this right?"
But Ms. Sanders held steady.
"She would always tell me that it's okay to get things wrong, because in life you're not expected to be perfect. The greatest thing from mistakes is learning from them."
That lesson — that failure is data, not defeat — is one Emily carries with her now in every difficult class and every new challenge.
There was another layer to that year: Ms. Sanders was pregnant with her second child. As the class navigated one of the hardest courses in the building together, something unexpected happened.
"I felt a sense of maternal love from her," Emily says. "Our class was small, and everybody was getting along. If somebody needed help, the other person would help. It all just felt like one big family."
Beyond The Classroom
As part of her art class at DSST, Emily helped paint a mural at Children's Hospital Colorado — a project she describes with quiet pride. More recently, she co-founded Create for Kids, a club she built alongside her friend Shiloh, where students come together to make cards, notes, and craft kits that are sent to children in the hospital.
She also had the opportunity to meet with visiting medical professionals — including specialists from a pediatric anesthesiology society — an experience that gave her a real-world glimpse into the medical community she hopes to join after completing her degree at Regis University.
What Emily Wants You to Know
At the core of everything Emily does — the lion dancing, the hospital cards, the club she founded, the career she's building — is a belief she articulates with surprising clarity for someone who hasn't yet graduated high school.
It's cliche, but love really is the most powerful thing. When you can break it down — sympathy, empathy, understanding, kindness, compassion... If you're able to show love, it gives you so much more opportunity to see the world in a good light and do so many good deeds."
She wants to be a midwife. She wants to be a researcher. She wants to be an advocate for women, for children, for Asian communities. She wants to give people — especially those who are suffering — the experience of feeling seen, cared for, and not alone.
DSST gave her the space to figure all of that out.
