TAP | San Diego

Eugene was born and raised in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He went to school at the University of Michigan, studying Computer Engineering. He now works at an aerospace company as a software engineer. In his freetime, Eugene enjoys watching cooking, watching movies, and playing video games. Eugene is also a self professed nerd and foodie.

Victoria grew up in Los Angeles and went to UCLA for both college and medical school before she decided to try out living on the East Coast for a change. She got her fill of winter snow and ice while undergoing training as a physical medicine and rehabilitation physician for 3 years in New Jersey and happily returned to sunny Southern California after completing her training program. Victoria has been living in San Diego for almost 2 years and is loving it, especially making new friends through TAP-SD. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, staying active, exploring new activities, and keeping in touch with friends and family.

Jennifer lived in Taipei until 12 and moved to Orange County. She attended UCSD for master’s degree in electrical engineering and decided San Diego is a good place to live. Her love of art has taken her through cake decorating, ceramic, and latest is photography. Jennifer also likes traveling (particularly somewhere with a waterfall) and is an occasional indoor climber and snowboarder.

Justin is a recent transplant to San Diego, having made the long journey from Massachusetts to the West Coast. Trained as a biomedical engineer, he now works for a mobile cardiac telemetry company where he creates new algorithms for arrhythmia detection. He has been involved in Boston’s Asian Asmerican community since his teenage years, having been active in A-VOYCE, lion dancing, and TAP-Boston, and hopes to make an impact as a San Diego resident.

JoJo used to lived in Hong Kong, Guang Zhou, Los Angeles, and Swansea (U.K.) before she decided to stay in San Diego. She is currently a mental health counselor working in crisis mobile team and private practice setting. When she is not at work, she enjoys advocating for mental health awareness, watching YouTube/Netflix brainlessly, shopping on Amazon, swiping on Yelp for boba milk tea, or being a blanket burrito at home.

Albert was born and raised in San Jose. After he graduated from UCI, he tried to move to LA but somehow ended up in the state instead of the city. He then decided to move to SD but ended up in the city instead of the state. Tired of moving, he started working as a civil engineer for the city of San Diego. In his free time, Albert likes to practice judo and attend hip hop concerts.

Cathy was born and raised in nice, suburbia Sacramento. She found her escape in sunny UCSD and now works for a private civil engineering design firm. With SD as her new home, she enjoys living an active lifestyle, binging Netflix, cooking for friends, and everything in between. She also can be found reading Stephen King novels with a good cup of coffee and petting other people’s dogs.

If Eric could instantly become an expert in something, it would be a medical expert. He’d also rather be able to communicate with animals than speak all human languages which is why if he chose to be handcuffed to something, it would be to a dog(s). If Eric were a type of jeans, he’d be sweatpants. Despite all this, if he had a ‘Rewind’ or ‘Pause’ button on his life, he’d choose to forever live in the present.

Ruby grew up in Taipei, aka best city ever! She moved to LA (specifically Rowland Heights) with her family for high school, then relocated to America’s finest city for university. She is currently living the biotech startup life as an accountant. Her free time is filled up with traveling, discovering new and hip restaurants and bars (rooftop bars are a plus). Pasta, Chinese, Korean, and ice cream always make her happy! Follow her on Instagram @rubykli to get a glimpse of her foodie adventure 😉

Louis was born and raised in Orange County, California. He moved to San Diego to attend college at UCSD, majoring in International Economics and Accounting. He is currently an accountant focusing on cash flow reporting for a publicly-traded company. In addition to his dedication for TAP-SD, he is also a board member of the UCSD Alumni San Diego Chapter and the Asian Pacific-Islander Alumni Council. Besides his professional life, he enjoys spending his free time learning new guitar riffs, exploring new places, and attempting to become an amateur film critic.

Jefferson has lived in many cities throughout the US including but not limited to Houston, the suburbs of LA, Miami, and Saint Louis. He graduated with a Bachelors in Computer Science in 2012 from Washington University in St. Louis and is now working as a software engineer. In his free time, Jefferson enjoys kickboxing, beach volleyball, sampling craft beer and coffee, and binging on reality TV shows.

Eric Ching is an attorney that practices real estate law and business law. Since graduating and passing the bar, Eric has worked as an associate litigation associate handling various real estate litigation matters. He is an active member of San Diego’s community. In addition to being a board member of Taiwanese American Professionals of San Diego, he is also a board member of San Diego Chinese Attorney’s Association, and a member of the San Diego County Bar Association. Eric actively participates in the local community by hosting informational seminars on real estate investment, landlord-tenant law, and business law.

Jeffrey was born and raised near Boston, MA. He became involved in the Taiwanese American community when he attended Brown University, acting as Treasurer and eventually President of Brown Taiwan Society during his time there. He attended UC San Diego for his doctorate in Bioinformatics and Systems Biology and now works at Illumina. In his free time, he enjoys reading, playing volleyball and exploring sunny San Diego.