I was born raised in the Vietnamese enclave of Little Saigon in Garden Grove, California. I am the youngest of 4 children and only boy. My name is Alexonder (with an O) because of a mistake on my birth records (I was supposed to be Alexander).

Aside from school, I spent most of my time growing up going on fishing trips with my father and started a landscaping business with him. I obtained my BS in Biology at The University of Calfornia-Riverside. I spent 2 year after undergrad working in a research lab researching the chemical ecology of insects and creating a peer mentorship program between college students and high school students in my community.

I attended the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA for medical school. Aside from my studies, I spent a lot of time doing community based participatory research in regards to immigrant perceptions of US public policy and how it intersects with their willingness to seek healthcare.

When I am not in the hospital, I enjoy playing volleyball, going on walks, learning my mother's/grandmother's traditional Vietnamese recipes, making candles, mowing lawns, and watching live stand up comedy shows. A dream I want to achieve outside of my medical career is to eventually open up a local coffee shop that partners with coffee farmers in Vietnam.