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Name: Song Lee
Title: Associate Dean
Department: Kremen School of Education and Human Development
Academic Degree(s):

• B.A. Psychology, UC Davis
• M.S. Counseling, option in Marriage, Family, and Child Counseling, Fresno State
• Ph.D. in Counselor Education, North Carolina State University

How long have you worked at Fresno State and in which offices have you worked?
I’ve worked since fall 2006 in the Counselor Education and Rehabilitation Department as a tenured track professor. I recently accepted the role of associate dean for the Kremen School of Education and Human Development. I’ve been a program coordinator for two programs including, marriage, family, and child counseling and school counseling programs.

Are you a Valley native?
I’m not a native because I was born in Laos, a Southeast Asian country. My family and I escaped the Secret War in Laos when I was about two years old. We first sought refuge in Thailand before settling in St. Paul, Minnesota. My parents relocated our whole family to Fresno when I was in second grade to be closer to my uncle. My parents’ siblings were scattered throughout the United States and the world after the war. Eventually every one of my father’s siblings were able to relocate to Fresno to be closer to each other. Although I am not a native of Fresno, it is my hometown.

Are you a Bulldog family with generations of Bulldog graduates or current students?
I received my master in counseling from here in 2000. We have many Bulldogs in our family. Out of seven kids, four of my siblings are alumni. My sister-in-law is also an alum. Currently attending are my nieces and nephew. My extended family members and cousins also attended this university.

Do you have a campus mentor or someone who has helped you in your career?
Two mentors that inspired and helped me navigate myself back to campus as a professor are Dr. Chris Lucey and the late Dr. Ron Kiyuna. This is a normal interaction among us: When they speak, I take notes because everything they say seems so wise and informational. They are my Aristotle and Plato but in their own ways.

Tell us about your department and what people may not know about it.
My former Counselor Education and Rehabilitation Department focuses mainly on graduate programs in counseling. We are housed in the Kremen School of Education and Human Development. The department offers three master’s programs and one credential program with emphasis in school counseling; student affairs and college counseling; clinical rehabilitation and mental health counseling; and marriage, family, and child counseling. Currently, I am about two months into my role as associate dean. Things people may not know about the Kremen School of Education and Human Development are the following:

• Annually, Kremen School oversees the preparation of more than 700 future educators in 14 programs that are housed in five colleges on campus.

• Kremen School ranks second within the CSU in terms of the number of initial teaching credentials granted annually.

• Kremen School is one of three institutions within California to be accredited by both the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing and the Association for Advancing Quality in Educator Preparation.

• The Counselor Education and Rehabilitation Department has a mental health clinic run by faculty and advanced practicum students on Shaw and Palm called Fresno Family Counseling Center. The center provides low and sliding fee counseling services to the community.

• The Counselor Education and Rehabilitation Department received recognition from the Western Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (WACES) by receiving the Exemplary Program Award for outstanding innovations in providing professional preparation for counselors.

What is your most notable accomplishment in your field, and why was it important?
To be honest, my accomplishments are not praise worthy enough to be called “notable accomplishments.” However, I am hopeful that my work in mental health research, teaching, and community service have helped the community and the counseling field, especially with Hmong Americans. I am also hopeful that the advocacy I’ve done will help amplify the voices and concerns of Hmong Americans. Mental health impacts every community and many communities like the Hmong have high rates of mental health concerns but low rates of seeking services.

Since my time here, I’ve provided pro bono services to the Hmong community in various ways, such as my collaboration with Stone Soup (2006-2010) to host a radio program focusing on the mental health of Hmong elderly and providing free counseling to their Hmong participants. I am currently working with a local Hmong Church, Freedom Community Church, to provide pro bono wellness education to the Hmong community, regardless of faith or no faith. This community work is important to me because as Fredy Tshibanda, mentioned at the 2023 State of our Children event, we are not successful until others are successful.

What are you most passionate about in your field and why?
My passion is collaborating with others in service, teaching, learning and advocacy. I enjoy teaching students and providing direct mental health services to the Hmong community. My focus is with my Hmong community because we have collectively suffered so much during and after the Secret War in Laos, but the services we need the most such as counseling, are novel to us. The trauma that our parents and many of us experienced during the war and as refugees are still impacting us until this day directly and indirectly. Knowing that war traumas transcend generations in the Hmong community saddens me the most because the war is not over for survivors.

However, it is this sadness that drives me to volunteer to support the community. Despite my focus due to the huge needs in the Hmong community, it is not lost on me that many families, regardless of race, are also combating traumas and mental health concerns. Therefore I want to relay a message I also got from Fredy Tshibanda’s speech to everyone reading this, “Be a blessing to others.”

What is a memorable moment you had at your job?
I have many memorable moments at my job. Most of them are of my colleagues and students. If I had to choose one to share with you, it is that moment when I drove into campus as a professor in August 2006. That moment was bittersweet because I was happy to have the job but sad that I will never be able to drive into campus as simply a student ever again. My best times in life, because of all the new experiences and learnings, were when I was a student.

What is a memorable moment you had in class?
It was when one of my students told me that when she grows up, she wants to be just like me. This student was 20 or 30 years older than me. This was a memorable moment because when I started as a professor, I looked young and was young in age. My imposter syndrome feelings were at an all time high. Therefore, when she told me that, among other kind words, it boosted my confidence and knocked that imposter syndrome down a notch.

What is your teaching style?
I like to demonstrate in my courses, whether it’s in role plays or activities. My goal is for students to learn and apply what they’ve learned. Whether the students see my class and assignments as easy or hard, as long as they are learning, then I’m happy. I also like to make learning fun so that it’s enjoyable for everyone. However, I know I’ve failed at times due to being overloaded with work and multiple time constraints.

What is your favorite quote or saying?
I don’t have good memories to remember quotes but I always remember the wisdom from Taoism, a philosophy I learned in my undergraduate philosophy class, "go with the flow.” I remember my professor using swimming up the stream as a metaphor for why it’s best to go with the flow. If we swim upstream, we’ll be fighting against the current. This fight will exhaust us. However, if we swim or go with the flow of the river, we are not fighting but simply living and flowing with the natural current of nature. Although going with the flow doesn’t apply to every human situation, it’s a good reminder to be flexible and enjoy the process of life even though it may be difficult at the moment.

What is the most interesting or unusual job you've ever had?
My job as a professor was my most treasured and interesting job because it allowed me to fulfill all my passions in teaching, research and service.

What do you like to do for fun in your spare time?
I like to garden, watch comedy or romantic movies, or any type of movies that would leave me feeling happy, and spend time with my children and husband.

What is something interesting about you that most people don’t know?
Most people do not know my history, although it is similar to many Hmong Americans’ history. I was born in Laos and started kindergarten a few days after we landed in the United States to flee a war-torn country. At the age of two or three, I left on foot with my family to hide in jungles and to find a way to safety. We had to leave our village in Laos because we were informed Hmong villages were being bombed and villagers were being killed because the Hmong had assisted the U.S. in the Vietnam War. At that time, my three older siblings and I were all under 10 years old and my two younger sisters were just one and a few months old. My mother and father each carried a baby. My siblings were all too young to carry me and they were carrying food and essentials so I had to walk. Our monthslong trekking, getting captured, getting rescued, and hiding again in the jungles resulted in my legs collapsing the moment we reached Thailand, a neutral neighboring country where we first sought refuge.

The trauma left me talking in whispers for a couple of days even though we were out of danger. I have vague memories of those times but the trauma is still with me. I still cry when talking about my people and my internal alarm heightens when my physical safety is in question. However, I believe I’ve become stronger and wiser with each experience, including those traumatic first experiences.

Is there something else you would like to share that was not asked?
Despite the challenges of my job as a professor, it gives me the calmness, stability, and confidence in my everyday life. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting and knowing wonderful students and colleagues on campus. My hope is that my new role as an administrator would be as interesting and pleasurable as a professor. I will be giving myself a lot of grace and I hope all of you will extend me some grace too as I stumble and learn.