Ako ay anak nina Ted Salac at ni Clarissa Reynoso Gala na wala na sa amin.  Kapwa

ipinanganak ang mga magulang ko sa Pilipinas.  Nagkakilala sila noong nag-aaral sila

sa Unibersidad ng De La Salle sa Maynila.  Pereho silang taga-Maynila.  Ang tatay ko

ay taga-Quezon City at ang nanay ko naman ay taga-Parañaque.  Lumipat sila sa Los

Angeles noong nakatapos sila ng kolehiyo.  Pumasok ang nanay ko sa Fashion Institute

of Design and Merchandising.  Ang tatay ko naman ay nag-aral sa UCLA's Anderson

School of Business.  Pagkatapos ng eskuwela at pagkatapos nilang ayusin ang buhay

nila nagpakasal sila at ipinanganak ako.  Isinilang ako sa Whittier, California

noong ika- 7 ng Setyembre, 1987.  Habang lumalaki ako, palagi akong malapit sa

kultura ko kasi sinigurado ng pamilya ko na may kaalaman ako tungkol sa wika, at

siyempre naman sa pagkain.  Palagi akong kinakausap ng lola ko sa Tagalog pero

nahihirapan akong sumagot sa kanya sa Tagalog.  Ito ang dahilan para sa desisyon

kong kumuha ng Filipino para sa wika na kailangan kong pag-aralan sa UCLA.  Ako ay

Global Studies major kaya kailangan kong kunin ang dalawang taon ng banyagang wika,

at saka naisip ko na bakit hindi ko balikan ang pinanggalingan ko?  Sa totoo,

pinakamagandang desisyon ko ito!

I am the daughter of Ted Salac and Clarissa Reynoso Gala who is no longer with us. Both my parents were born in the Philippines. They met when they were studying at De La Salle University in Manila. They are both from Manila. My father is from Quezon City and my mother is from Parañaque. They moved to Los Angeles when they finished college. My mother went to study at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising. My father studied at UCLA's Anderson School of Business. After finishing school and after they finished getting their lives together, they got married and I was born. I was born in Whittier, California on September 7, 1987. As I was growing up, I was always close to my culture because my family made sure that I knew about our language, and of course about our food. My Grandmother always spoke to me in Tagalog but I had difficulty answering her in Tagalog. This is the reason why I decided to take Filipino for my foreign language requirement at UCLA. I am a Global Studies Major, and I need to take two years of a foreign language, and I thought why not go back to my roots. In truth, this is the best decision I've made!