>> So...
[speaking Hmong]
>> Katie Thao speaks
the language of her homeland.
But for most Hmong students
she counsels, it's a language
they don't understand.
>> I guess we kinda lost it,
or we don't follow
the Hmong tradition any more.
>> Katie speaks from experience.
She speaks for a culture
torn apart by war.
>> I was born in Long Tieng,
that's the central base
where the CIA located in Laos,
when the war erupted and the
Americans started to pull out.
>> By age five, she was torn
from the fabric of her culture
and forced to live
the consequences of war.
>> My father recruited other
families to move,
and to keep traveling
and to flee through the jungle
of Laos into Thailand.
That migration is dangerous
and took months,
and putting life in danger.
The memories that I have,
is my father literally
carrying me on his shoulder,
and my pants were mud, thick.
And at some point, I remember
him taking a huge machete knife
and scraping that mud off me.
>> Hmong villagers fought
along side U.S. soldiers,
and yet when they escaped
to this country, many Americans
didn't know if the Hmong
were friend of foe.
>> The most important thing
that I learned from my elders
is never to give up.
They are survivors.
The Hmong people, by nature,
are survivors.
Katie not only survived.
She excelled, skipping
the fourth and eighth grades.
>> It was either
a sink or swim,
because at the time,
we had no other Hmong person
that was here already
that learned the language,
learned the system
that could guide us through it,
>> So Chiang, what is it that
you want to do next school year?
Where is it you want to go?
>> Today, Katie guides her
students through the system
at Green Bay's
Preble High School.
>> You've really answered
two of those big puzzles,
what do I want to do
and where d I want to go.
>> Katie doesn't take her
education for granted, and
believes the role of Hmong
women can no longer be taken
for granted either.
However, Katie is still careful
to abide by centuries-old
traditions.
>> In every aspect of
a Hmong woman's life,
she has to know her boundaries,
exactly how far to go, and then
people within her family, her
clan, will also help guide her
to not be that nail that sticks
way too far out.
>> In an arranged marriage,
Katie joined her husband's clan.
This photo shows
the first time they met.
Katie arrived in Wisconsin
at age 17, newly married
and separated from her family
in Denver.
>> I truly feel
that at this point in time,
life in Wisconsin is home.
It's just the ideal place
to raise a family.
Kong, I wanted to congratulate
you on achieving a wonderful
score on that reading test.
>> As she continues to balance
family and a career,
Katie realizes that she's not
following the traditional course
of Hmong culture.
>> I truly, truly feel
that some Hmong men are still
very, very traditional.
Sometimes it's hard for them
to accept a strong woman,
to accept that women
can be in position of power.
And there's no excuse why...
>> Katie's position
as a professional woman
is not lost
on the younger generation.
>> It is really unusual,
because it's rare.
I never see it anywhere.
Especially being a counselor,
yeah.
[speaking Hmong]
>> Katie is Wisconsin's
unofficial Hmong ambassador
of the airwaves.
Each week, Katie
and her husband Shoua
take to the airwaves
of Wisconsin Public Radio
to preserve Hmong culture.
>> As I age, I realize that
aspects of the culture is dying
so very, very fast, and
it's a challenge every day.
You almost have to
force yourself to hang onto it.
>> Katie is moving forward
with a passion and vision
for her Hmong people.
>> For all young Hmong people
that's what my hope
and dream would be,
is to find a place in society,
give back to society,
make a difference
and continue to strive forward.