As a teenager, Michelle Lee was at the center of a clash of cultures. At home in Merced, as a young Hmong woman, she imagined a traditional path for her future: marriage and nurturing children. She spoke only Hmong at home with her Mom. Meanwhile, at school, she was bullied when she used the language and she felt an intense pressure to assimilate. She began refusing to speak the language of her youth (although, occasionally, she would pick up her ukulele and sing beautiful songs from her Mom’s homeland). She also began pursuing extracurricular opportunities that were new to her parents and six siblings. Michelle says, “A lot of Hmong youth in Merced don’t have a connection to recreation and the outdoors.” As a sixteen year old, feeling in crisis and in the middle of two distinct cultures, Michelle applied to the ARC 40-day Yosemite course.
Michelle remembers very small details from her ARC summer experience. She remembers the time that ARC’s current Executive Director and former instructor, Sarah Ottley, picked her up from home on Day 1 to transport her to Yosemite’s high country: 7:30AM. She remembers which teammate, Micahel Baneulos, was the “Leader of the Day” on the second day of the group’s fourth wilderness expedition. She remembers, specifically, “Looking at Ostrander Lake that day, surrounded by nature, and knowing that my teammates and the staff loved and cared about me.”
Michelle’s incredible recall of details from a summer eight years ago is a reflection of how formative the experience was for her. Pulled between two cultures at home and school, she described being in an “identity crisis” when she joined ARC. On the course, however, she started to see herself as an independent Hmong woman with a strong voice. “Having adults and a group of students who believed in me made a huge difference…It really boosted my confidence. I really felt like I had the world at my fingertips. I felt like I had a voice for the first time.” Michelle saw in her triumphs and successes with ARC—climbing mountains, speaking in front of a large audience, teaching science to Boys & Girls Club students—that being herself was enough.
In Yosemite, Michelle says she also learned the importance of perseverance: “Whatever fears you have, whatever situation you’re going through—you’re going to get through it.” From hiking thirty-plus miles in the wilderness to a 24-hour solo, she overcame all the challenges put in front of her. “ARC really taught me how to push through things,” she remembers. Michelle showed this determination as she pursued higher education. She worked two jobs while attending Sacramento State and, despite the long hours of work and school, she graduated in 2018 with a degree in sociology!
She now works, along with her fellow ARC teammate Naly Thao, as a Support Counselor at Aspiranet in Merced, counseling at-risk youth and their families who are in need of mental health and behavioral support. Michelle is especially committed to providing mental health services to Hmong youth. She says “I tell my teenage clients ‘You have the power to speak for yourself. Make your voice loud and proud.’ In less than a decade, Michelle went from a young person feeling trapped and voiceless to a young professional helping others like her find their voice.