"It was like a light went off in my head," Chu recalled. She learned about the history of Asian immigrants and their children, the discrimination and stereotypes they endured and their contributions to American life and culture.

One of the guest speakers was Pat Sumi, a third-generation Japanese American whose activism included registering blacks to vote in Mississippi and Georgia and organizing protests against the Vietnam War.

"It was the very first time it occurred to me that an Asian American woman could be a leader," said Chu, who began volunteering with various causes, transferred to UCLA and gave up computers for clinical psychology.

On Tuesday, adding to a 24-year political career launched on a local school board, Chu became the first Chinese American woman elected to Congress. She won a special election - with nearly 62% of the vote - to succeed longtime ally Hilda Solis, now U.S. Labor secretary, in the 32nd Congressional District.