Meet Connie Chin – Grant Halliburton Foundation’s Here For Texas program manager. Connie leads the recruitment and coordination of volunteers for the Here For Texas Mental Health Navigation Line. She also manages the development and maintenance of HereForTexas.com.
Fun fact: Connie is a polyglot who loves video games and musicals.
Here are 10 things to know about Connie.
1. What was your first job?
My first job out of college in Raleigh, North Carolina was as a habilitation technician. I worked one-on-one with teens and young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities to help them develop home-building and life skills.
2. What’s your guilty pleasure?
I would say my guilty pleasure is playing video games with my friends. A lot of my friends are in different cities and countries, so playing video games online is a good way to spend time with them. Recently, I’ve been playing a lot of “Overwatch,” “League of Legends,” and “Among Us.”
3. What advice would you give to your teenage self?
“You are doing an amazing job. Just keep doing what you’re doing and you’ll be fine.”
4. What’s your favorite movie scene and why?
I absolutely love musicals, so I will go with the opening scene of my first favorite musical, “The Sound of Music.” Seeing Julie Andrews sing “The Hills are Alive” on a beautiful meadow with the Alps in the background always gets me so excited to watch the movie. I’ve seen this movie a few dozen times since childhood and will never get tired of it.
5. What’s one thing people would be surprised to know about you?
I’m a polyglot! I speak English, Mandarin Chinese, Malay, and Japanese with varying degrees of fluency and can understand (but can’t speak) Cantonese and Vietnamese. During the pandemic, I’ve also started learning Spanish on Duolingo.
“You are doing an amazing job. Just keep doing what you’re doing, and you’ll be fine.”
6. What would you name the autobiography of your life?
Work in Progress. I enjoy learning new things, whatever they might be. It’s very exciting to me to think that there’s still so much out there to learn.
7. What do you enjoy doing when you’re not at work?
I really enjoy rock climbing, traveling to different countries, and trying new foods.
8. What are your top three TV shows you’re streaming right now?
“Formula 1: Drive to Survive,” “My Hero Academia,” and any cooking competition show I can find.
9. Where’s your favorite travel destination and why?
Japan! I really enjoy the simplicity of Japanese culture and food.
10. Why is Grant Halliburton Foundation’s mission important to you?
As someone who unknowingly struggled with mental health most of my life, I’ve experienced firsthand how life-changing it is to learn that mental illness exists. Being part of an organization with the mission to educate and bring awareness that mental health conditions are real and very preventable is something that is very near and dear to my heart.
