was little, and the beautiful and amazing thing was, whether it was bravo "top chef" or san francisco rising star cheft is, or, you know, kqed pbs, i get overwhelmed with emotion and joy from me telling my truth, and the fact that i'm telling my truth, which is filled with, like, pain and heart, that people resonate with that. it's extremely difficult to be vulnerable. i continually feel very, very blessed, you know, for every opportunity. ♪ i've always loved cooking. like, going into junior high, going to high school, i became more and more obsessed with food. coming out of high school, i told my mom. i was like, "i don't want to go to college. i want to go to culinary school." it caught her off-guard, but i deeply appreciate her support, and because it caught her off-guard, it made me want to be that more serious in cooking and prove to myself that it was a worthy investment. from culinary school, it opened a whole new world for me on what food could be. i think, in my adolescent years, naturally, of course, i just knew of vietnamese food and what my mom cooked, and i wanted to know the limits and b