Kwan, Tina, 1983-

Pediatric cardiologist Tina Kwan arrived in Las Vegas as a toddler and attended two private schools before graduating from Kenny Guinn Middle School and The Academy of Mathematics, Science Arts and Technology (A.M.S.A.T.) at Clark High School after being recruited by Principal Wayne Tanaka. After completing University of Nevada School of Medicine in Reno, she did her pediatrics residency at University of Arizona in Tucson and her cardiology fellowship at Arkansas Childrens Hospital before joining Childrens Heart Center of Nevada. In 1990, when Tina's parents opened the Fortune Inn restaurant, seven-year-old Tina began working alongside them; they closed the restaurant in 2005. After the restaurant closed, Tina's mother, So Lin Kwan, became a dealer and her father, David Kwan, became a cook at Lily Langtry restaurant in the Golden Nugget. So Lin is the third youngest of ten children born in Quiping to a different Kwan family. So Lin's oldest sister and her brother were the first of the family to emigrate; the brother did so at twelve years of age. When So Lin's husband, David, immigrated, he came to the Spring Valley area of Las Vegas, near So Lin's brother and cousins. David, from Guangzhou, was the first of his family to immigrate and wanted to sponsor his brothers. Because sponsoring for U.S. citizenship involves providing a job and a place to live, David and So Lin bought a large house big enough for their family and also for David's four brothers and their families; the brothers would join David and So Lin in the restaurant. It took ten years for the petitions to go through. Tina also speaks to being an English-as-a-Second-Language learner, anti-AAPI discrimination, schooling, Chinese superstitions, the Las Vegas "family friendly" era, and Southern Nevada's diversity and amenities.