Eighteen years ago, after a 15 hour flight across the world, my parents stepped onto American soil for the first time. Searching for a better life for themselves and for me, they used doors of opportunity opened by education to come to the United States. Life certainly wasn’t easy as they settled into a tiny apartment in Queens, a land of foreign people, customs, and languages. In those first few years, both had to work multiple jobs with exhausting hours to scrape by.

But through their schooling, they earned better and better jobs and slowly but surely, they realized the American dream. Life is much more comfortable for them today, but they have never forgotten their humble roots and how education jump-started their lives in America.

President Obama shares the values that my parents prize, and has turned those values into actions. He recently signed into law a bill that will prevent college loan interest rates from skyrocketing. He has also expanded Pell Grants to benefit 40,000 more AAPI students by 2020, increased funding for programs to help AAPI students with limited English proficiency, and in 2011, through the American Opportunity Tax Credit, he provided relief to 9.4 million families with college students

My parents, like so many other AAPIs, arrived in this country with big dreams—dreams that would never have come true without the opportunities education provided. The President is keeping these dreams alive for a new generation.

The President has our interests at heart, and he needs our support. Register to vote, and join Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders for Obama to work with us to re-elect the President. With your help, we can make sure that quality education—a core value of the AAPI community—is protected and advanced.