Tom’s inner conflict between her American and Asian identities has driven her to seek spiritual guidance in almost every form—and has inspired the name of her show.

“I’ve been to 25 psychics so far,” Tom said with a laugh. “I’ve even gone to see a woman called ‘the mother’ who just hugs you.”

As she got older, Tom said she gained pride in her culture.

“What if everything I thought was wrong with me was actually right with me?” Tom said. “You have to have the courage to show who you are to the world.”

Tom held the attention throughout her performance, often having to pause to wait for the laughter to die down.

Jia Jia Liu ’05 said she expected a speech from Tom and was pleasantly surprised by her dramatic performance.

Candice Chiu ’04, co-vice president of AAA, praised Tom in her introduction for “developing an Asian American presence and voice” in the entertainment industry.

“We really wanted to bring someone here in pop culture and there are pretty few [Asian American] faces out there,” Chiu said after the performance.

In addition to AAA, the Ann Radcliffe Trust and the Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations also sponsored the event.