[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 97 (Monday, June 5, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E521]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 HONORING HELEN O'CONNOR AS A DISTINGUISHED LEADER IN CENTRAL FLORIDA 
         FOR ASIAN AMERICAN AND PACIFIC ISLANDER HERITAGE MONTH

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                            HON. DARREN SOTO

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                          Monday, June 5, 2023

  Mr. SOTO. Mr. Speaker, on May 26, 2023, I recognized Helen O'Connor 
as a distinguished leader in Central Florida for Asian American and 
Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Daughters of South-Asian mothers know 
the pressure for perfection, the grind toward pleasing others, 
especially mom. Helen's family expected her to follow traditional 
Filipino ways--for the daughter to stay in her parents' home and take 
care of them until their passing. Facing potential shame, Helen left. 
She knew her gifts existed for her community and not for mom alone.
  Within an international English school and Valencia College, Helen 
O'Connor has collaborated with professors, exploring ways to improve 
instructional approaches and reflect on unknowingly harmful practices. 
She actively seeks inclusive approaches to hiring and designs and 
builds new standard operating procedures that remove overlooked 
barriers to student success. Helen championed this in PERT outreach 
programs, emphasizing the necessity for learner-centered activities. 
This engaged students who had not met qualifying scores in reading or 
writing and led to 84 percent of attendees making qualifying writing 
scores and the majority making qualifying reading scores.
  Her ripples in the community go beyond Central Florida. Helen joined 
Writing Center leaders, introducing strategies to incorporate 
Linguistic Justice with Writing Center directors internationally. She 
also influenced ways to better center agency to their tutors and 
students' voices alike. Through her ideas, Helen brings consistency and 
structure. She normalizes compassion and vulnerability by inviting 
others to be their authentic selves in the workplace.
  By encouraging healing spaces and embracing the complexity of 
intersectional identities, Helen spreads compassion while building her 
own path. She didn't stay in her mother's home but brought her mom to 
hers. She learned the constant pressure and ridicule her mother faced 
and the struggle between loving one's culture and being shamed because 
of it. This duality drives Helen, and she works without rest to ensure 
others can find clarity in their own identity, and above all, their 
voices.

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