Yia Lor speaks at MSCD commencement ceremony

Yia Lor’s childhood was very different from many of his peers.

Yia Lor credits his father Chue Thao Lor with inspiring him and his siblings to further their education. His father joined the Laos Army when he was a teenager and he worked with the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) gathering information on the communist enemy during the Vietnam War. Photo by Eric Hagen

The featured student speaker at a Dec. 15 commencement ceremony at Metropolitan State University shared his experiences growing up as a political refugee in a Thai refugee camp and how his friends would pass the agonizing time catching insects and not thinking about a future that looked hopeless.

Lor, who is now 33 years old and living in Ham Lake with his wife Meena Moua, said he was humbled by the opportunity to share his story. To read the full ABCNewspapers.com story, click here.