Forest Moua is a Hmong-American California native from Merced, a town known as the “Gateway to Yosemite” surrounded by desert hills and rich forests in the Sierras. Forest was exposed to poetry and writing by his father at a young age, later influencing his artistic pursuit in film and appreciation for poetry in his own studies. He currently studies social anthropology and film at Harvard College, hoping to pursue graduate school in Asian and Asian American diasporic studies with a focus on creative avenues of ethnographic research and archive. He intends for his filmmaking practice to blend mediums of poetry, photography, and oral storytelling to reimagine frameworks of knowing, participating, and being through ritual and cultural memory. In his free time, Forest loves to skip rocks on a calm body of water (his record is 35 consecutive skips), vintage shopping with close companions, and meditating whether by hiking up Mount Shasta or collaborative poetry with friends.

What drew you to working with AASPIRES?

My close and dear mentor, Vince Muas, was a key figure in my college application process, as well as a confidant with whom I have shared many of my desires, struggles, and dreams. I met Vince through the SHOPPE program (Stanford Hmong Outreach Program Promoting Education), held in Spring of 2022. Hearing him speak about his experiences not only as a pioneer at Stanford, but also as an advocate for Hmong and Southeast Asian students across a multitude of higher education institutions sparked immense admiration in my heart. I reached out to AASPIRES later in my senior year of high school, during my college application season. AASPIRES, to me, represents a great deal of my academic and personal life: the origins of my college career sprouted from this organization and the voice that echoes through me is only heard because of the students, organizers, and advocates from AASPIRES who created space for me.

What was the college-readiness process like with AASPIRES?

In countless ways, AASPIRES is the culmination of all my college-readiness efforts squeezed together. I met virtually with my mentor, Vince Muas, roughly once or twice a week (three times at most during the intense application deadline squeeze) and discussed my application essays and helpful revisions, scholarship and financial aid resources, and pathways I could choose to most effectively approach the application process (eg. applying through QuestBridge versus the Common Application). Most of my time working with AASPIRES was navigating how I could best approach the college application process with the resources that AASPIRES offers and how I could most effectively craft a cohesive narrative of my “self” through the application.

What would you say to students from communities like yours who are unsure about the college application process?

Please, please apply!! It is only possible for collective change to happen if we, as individuals, move forward together — this means taking the mental and emotional leap to pursue higher education. As my dad would often quote, by standing on the shoulders of the giants before you, you have the tallest view of the world. Remember that no application or individual success is ever truly an “individual success,” meaning two things: (1) that you did not get to wherever you may go without those who advocated and supported you, and (2) that there WILL be people with good and kindred hearts rooting for you, buttressing your journey as you go through life. THAT is possible through AASPIRES. Even just applying to any college and reaching out to the beautiful mentors around you will mean infinitely more to our communities than the resignation of not allowing yourself the opportunity to pursue higher education. It is ESSENTIAL that you make the most of this opportunity, not only because you’ll have the shoulders of giants from that of AASPIRES to anchor your shins but because, truthfully, the college application process (when done with care and intentionality) can be a beautiful process of untangling your lifestory, your yearnings in this life, and your threads of meaning which sew the paj ntuab of our journeys.

I pray that you treat this process and those who choose to join you during it with love and sincere compassion. Thank you, and I hope to see you standing with a clearer and taller view soon, my friend!