Staff Spotlight: Christina Tran-Kenyon

Born and raised in East San Jose, Christina Tran-Kenyon was the first in her family to attend college. She is an alumna of University of the Pacific where she earned both her Bachelor of Science in Business,and Masters in Education. Like many Breakthrough students, language and cultural barriers often posed a threat to her academic pursuits. Her native tongue of Vietnamese, which would often pose a hurdle in her literature and writing classes, is now an asset to her as she builds relationships with our Vietnamese speaking families in the very same neighborhood she grew up in. Her parents made countless sacrifices to ensure that Christina was able to earn the college degree and pave the way for her three younger sisters.

Get to know Christina, or as the Breakthrough staff affectionately calls her CTK, in this quick Q&A:

What is your role at Breakthrough? How would you explain your work in three sentences to your eight-year-old cousin?

At Breakthrough, I work with middle school students and their families after-school, weekends and summers. My job is to organize programs, and make sure that all the students keep their grades up!

What do you like most about Breakthrough?

 Christina with her mother, sisters and husband

Breakthrough’s ability to create a rigorous academic environment combined with a very inclusive positive culture for our students.

What is your biggest piece of advice for Breakthrough students?

Asking for help is not a weakness, don’t be afraid to ask when you don’t know. Successful people are the ones who ask.

What would you like Breakthrough kids to know about you?

I come from a very big family, and they 

are really important to me.  I had 360 people at my wedding, and 300 of them were my family members.

What’s your favorite thing to do in your hometown of San Jose?

Eating authentic Vietnamese food! There are so many Vietnamese restaurants in San Jose, and I missed that when I was living in the East Bay.

What would you most regret not having done by the end of your life?

Being able to start my own family and raise my own kids.     

What excited you so much that it kept you awake the night before?

The night before the first day of school when I was a student or teacher always kept me up.

To learn more about Christina and other members of our staff, please visit our website!