Isaac Eloy Barrón identifies as a Mexican American. However, as he explains, it took a move five hundred miles away, from North Las Vegas to Winnemucca, to learn what it meant to be Mexican—and that he spoke with a Chihuahuan accent. It was also in Winnemucca that Barrón lauched his stellar career as an educator.

Mike was born in Hawaii to Filipino parents. He moved to the mainland with his family

when he was very young. Interestingly, Mike's parents had to apply for citizenship as Hawaii

was not yet part ot the United States. Growing up, Mike worked in the family grocery store in

the San Francisco area. Even though it was his father's dream that his sons would take on the