Monica Ambalal was born and raised in Stockton, CA and began her academic career at San Joaquin Delta College before continuing on to receive: a BA from the University of New Orleans, an MA in Musicology from CSU Long Beach, an MA in Ethnomusicology from UC Davis (and soon a Phd from UC Santa Cruz). Her mission as an educator is to engage students with critical thinking and healthy debate and foster a classroom dynamic where students can feel like they are actively learning and building content. She continues to share the complex histories of music cultures, and make them accessible to all students. As an academic, she researches musics that center on transnationalism and hybridity -with an emphasis in popular music, and has also explored a variety of world music topics. Her mission as a returning student is to demonstrate to others there is no finite date on chasing your dreams, and she enjoys working with first-generation students and those returning to the classroom. Her dissertation focuses on the piano accordion and how it was cultivated and sustained by Italian communities in northern California and the greater West Coast. She is the chair of music at Merritt College in Oakland, and as a musician she is a cellist of 20 years, a reformed mezzo-soprano, and an amateur accordion player.