{"id":139753,"date":"2024-02-19T08:53:31","date_gmt":"2024-02-19T13:53:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=139753"},"modified":"2024-02-19T08:53:31","modified_gmt":"2024-02-19T13:53:31","slug":"inside-one-knights-network-to-the-white-house","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/inside-one-knights-network-to-the-white-house\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside One Knight\u2019s Network to the White House"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It takes some enticing to convince <strong>Ricky Ly \u201908<\/strong> to talk about himself. Ly been called \u201cone of the most powerful people in Orlando,\u201d but humility is woven into his DNA. It\u2019s so genuine that when the following biographical statements are mentioned to Ly, he can hardly believe they refer to him:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Among the <em>Orlando Business Journal<\/em>\u2019s 40 Under 40 leaders for innovation and entrepreneurship.<\/li>\n<li>A project manager for Jacobs, the engineering company with people in its workforce.<\/li>\n<li>An Orlando-area food critic influential enough to make an upcoming appearance on Netflix\u2019s <em>Somebody Feed Phil<\/em>.<\/li>\n<li>Co-founder of the AAPI civic engagement organization, Asian American Pacific Islanders Coming Together (ACT).<\/li>\n<li>A recent invitee to a special \u201cBuilding Back Florida\u201d community summit at the White House.<\/li>\n<li>One of the 50 most powerful people in Orlando, according to <em>Orlando Magazine<\/em>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<figure id=\"attachment_139755\" style=\"max-width: 323px;\" class=\"figure float-left\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"800\" class=\"figure-img img-fluid w-100 wp-image-139755 \" src=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2024\/02\/Ricky-Ly_White-House-600x800.jpeg\" alt srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2024\/02\/Ricky-Ly_White-House-600x800.jpeg 600w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2024\/02\/Ricky-Ly_White-House-225x300.jpeg 225w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2024\/02\/Ricky-Ly_White-House-384x512.jpeg 384w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2024\/02\/Ricky-Ly_White-House-1152x1536.jpeg 1152w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2024\/02\/Ricky-Ly_White-House-300x400.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2024\/02\/Ricky-Ly_White-House-270x360.jpeg 270w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2024\/02\/Ricky-Ly_White-House.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"800\" class=\"figure-img img-fluid w-100 wp-image-139755  lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%20600%20800%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" alt srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%20600%20800%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2024\/02\/Ricky-Ly_White-House-600x800.jpeg 600w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2024\/02\/Ricky-Ly_White-House-225x300.jpeg 225w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2024\/02\/Ricky-Ly_White-House-384x512.jpeg 384w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2024\/02\/Ricky-Ly_White-House-1152x1536.jpeg 1152w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2024\/02\/Ricky-Ly_White-House-300x400.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2024\/02\/Ricky-Ly_White-House-270x360.jpeg 270w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2024\/02\/Ricky-Ly_White-House.jpeg 1536w\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2024\/02\/Ricky-Ly_White-House-600x800.jpeg\"><figcaption class=\"figure-caption\">Ricky Ly \u201908 at the White House (Photo courtesy of Ricky Ly \u201908)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>That last one makes the soft-spoken Ly laugh out loud.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t take it too seriously,\u201d he says, \u201cbut I do take seriously my responsibility to make the world a better place. It\u2019s a value passed down from my parents.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ly doesn\u2019t consider himself anything more than a husband, father, son and UCF Knight. Once you gain a few peeks into the mind of this award-winning civil engineer, however, you begin to see how everything above ties together.<\/p>\n<p><strong>His invitation to the White House.<br>\n<\/strong>A group of us were walking through the West Wing when I saw all these cellphones stashed in cubbies. It hit me that I\u2019d never seen such a level of security, and \u2014 <em>wow, we\u2019re in the White House<\/em>. I was invited to participate in a summit with mayors, federal officials and leaders of community organizations to discuss the administration\u2019s investments in better roadways, airports, affordable housing and resiliency to storms. They included me mostly because of my volunteer work with ACT, but a lot of my civil engineering experience intertwined with the topics. It\u2019s all part of improving civilization.<\/p>\n<p><strong>His biggest takeaway from the summit.<br>\n<\/strong>People in high positions at the White House were asking us questions and taking notes about our experiences in our communities. Our voices were being heard, which aligns with what America is all about. This is an important theme in my life: Connecting people and communities. I think that comes from my immigrant background \u2014 strangers on a strange shore, seeking connection.<\/p>\n<p><strong>His parents coming to America as refugees from Vietnam.<br>\n<\/strong>After the war in Vietnam ended in 1975, the struggles continued for years. My mom was an orphan and managed to escape with her cousins on a fishing boat. They were at sea for two weeks before landing in Malaysia. My dad was of Chinese descent and had a difficult time growing up in Vietnam. Mom and dad were sponsored to come to the U.S., and eventually they met in West Palm Beach, Florida. Dad opened an Asian market there, which provided hard-to-find Asian goods and a place to gather and talk about life in the new world.<\/p>\n<p><strong>His decision to enroll at UCF as the first in his family to attend college.<br>\n<\/strong>When I was growing up, my family would come to Orlando from south Florida to visit the theme parks and shop and eat in the Mills 50 district. For my parents, the Vietnamese food gave them a taste of home. So, there was the cultural appeal for me. I also knew UCF had a great <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/college\/engineering-computer-science\/\">engineering program<\/a> where I could apply my love for math and science.<\/p>\n<p><strong>His attraction to civil engineering.<br>\n<\/strong>I remember taking a trip to Vietnam when I was in 9<sup>th<\/sup> grade. This was 1999 and a lot of the roads there were still unpaved. There were few bridges and it took hours to get from place to place by ferry. I remember thinking, \u201cI wish I could do something to help.\u201d A few years later, in my <em>Introduction to Engineering<\/em> class at UCF our instructor taught us about the different types of engineering. I learned that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/degree\/civil-engineering-ms\/\">civil engineering<\/a> \u2014 also known as the mother of all engineering \u2014 included the design of roadways and infrastructure. I thought back to my trip to Vietnam and knew this is exactly what I want to do.<\/p>\n<p><strong>His life-altering first day at UCF.<br>\n<\/strong>A group of friends wanted to grab lunch somewhere, and we ended up at Anh Hong in Orlando\u2019s Mills 50 District, affectionately known as Viet Town at the time. The grilled pork and rice platter is still among the best in town. Some of those people I met on that first day are still among my best friends. One was <strong>May Wong \u201907 \u201908MSA<\/strong>, who is now my wife.<\/p>\n<p><strong>His recognition as one of <\/strong><strong><em>Orlando Magazine<\/em>\u2019s 50 Most Powerful People.<br>\n<\/strong>That\u2019s mostly because of my food blog, TastyChomps. During my time at UCF, I wrote a food column for the student paper and decided to turn it into a blog after graduation. It\u2019s grown over the years and I authored a book called a <em>Food Lovers\u2019 Guide to Orlando<\/em>. In fact, I just filmed a Netflix episode of <em>Somebody Feed Phil.<\/em> The show and TastyChomps have a similar mission: discover mom-and-pop places and share good food with friends. Through their food, these families who run these restaurants form a community. That was the purpose of my dad\u2019s market, too. And again, it\u2019s at the heart of my passion for civil engineering.<\/p>\n<p><strong>His pride to be a Knight.<em><br>\n<\/em><\/strong>I owe my White House experience, my career, and my personal life to my time at UCF. Of course, none of it would have been possible without my parents who sacrificed so I could eventually have this opportunity to become an engineer, a food blogger, a husband and a father, and to live the story of America. It\u2019s a privilege to do whatever I can to give back.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When civil engineering alum <strong>Ricky Ly \u201908<\/strong> is asked about his career, his accolades, and his recent invitation to the best-known house in America, he connects everything back to community and being the grateful son of resilient refugees.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":139754,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"lazy_load_responsive_images_disabled":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[15992,6],"tags":[973,18219,202],"tu_author":[],"class_list":["post-139753","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-community","tag-college-of-engineering-and-computer-science","tag-community-impact","tag-alumni"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.3 (Yoast SEO v27.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Inside One Knight\u2019s Network to the White House | University of Central Florida News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"When civil engineering alum Ricky Ly \u201908 is asked about his career, his accolades, and his recent invitation to the best-known house in America, he connects everything back to community and being the grateful son of resilient refugees.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/inside-one-knights-network-to-the-white-house\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Inside One Knight\u2019s Network to the White House\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When civil engineering alum Ricky Ly \u201908 is asked about his career, his accolades, and his recent invitation to the best-known house in America, he connects everything back to community and being the grateful son of resilient refugees.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/inside-one-knights-network-to-the-white-house\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"University of Central Florida News | UCF Today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/UCF\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-02-19T13:53:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2024\/02\/Ricky-Ly.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Nicole Dudenhoefer &#039;17\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@UCF\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@UCF\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Nicole Dudenhoefer &#039;17\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/inside-one-knights-network-to-the-white-house\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/inside-one-knights-network-to-the-white-house\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Nicole Dudenhoefer '17\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9d80c5f96623baaf4ec084540ceb2407\"},\"headline\":\"Inside One Knight\u2019s Network to the White House\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-02-19T13:53:31+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/inside-one-knights-network-to-the-white-house\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1000,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/inside-one-knights-network-to-the-white-house\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/blogs.dir\\\/20\\\/files\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/Ricky-Ly.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"College of Engineering and Computer Science\",\"Community Impact\",\"UCF Alumni\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Alumni\",\"Community\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"copyrightYear\":\"2024\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/inside-one-knights-network-to-the-white-house\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/inside-one-knights-network-to-the-white-house\\\/\",\"name\":\"Inside One Knight\u2019s Network to the White House | University of Central Florida News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/inside-one-knights-network-to-the-white-house\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/inside-one-knights-network-to-the-white-house\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/blogs.dir\\\/20\\\/files\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/Ricky-Ly.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-02-19T13:53:31+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9d80c5f96623baaf4ec084540ceb2407\"},\"description\":\"When civil engineering alum Ricky Ly \u201908 is asked about his career, his accolades, and his recent invitation to the best-known house in America, he connects everything back to community and being the grateful son of resilient refugees.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/inside-one-knights-network-to-the-white-house\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/inside-one-knights-network-to-the-white-house\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/inside-one-knights-network-to-the-white-house\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/blogs.dir\\\/20\\\/files\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/Ricky-Ly.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/blogs.dir\\\/20\\\/files\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/Ricky-Ly.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":800,\"caption\":\"(Photo courtesy of Ricky Ly \u201908)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/inside-one-knights-network-to-the-white-house\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Inside One Knight\u2019s Network to the White House\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"University of Central Florida News | UCF Today\",\"description\":\"Central Florida Research, Arts, Technology, Student Life and College News, Stories and More\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9d80c5f96623baaf4ec084540ceb2407\",\"name\":\"Nicole Dudenhoefer '17\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/0eafe9f8522ea36420e16503c4ea5eded2f876d29a0c189ed66c195f65ced6e9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/0eafe9f8522ea36420e16503c4ea5eded2f876d29a0c189ed66c195f65ced6e9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/0eafe9f8522ea36420e16503c4ea5eded2f876d29a0c189ed66c195f65ced6e9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Nicole Dudenhoefer '17\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/author\\\/ni563285\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/inside-one-knights-network-to-the-white-house\\\/#local-main-organization-logo\",\"url\":\"\",\"contentUrl\":\"\",\"caption\":\"University of Central Florida\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Inside One Knight\u2019s Network to the White House | University of Central Florida News","description":"When civil engineering alum Ricky Ly \u201908 is asked about his career, his accolades, and his recent invitation to the best-known house in America, he connects everything back to community and being the grateful son of resilient refugees.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/inside-one-knights-network-to-the-white-house\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Inside One Knight\u2019s Network to the White House","og_description":"When civil engineering alum Ricky Ly \u201908 is asked about his career, his accolades, and his recent invitation to the best-known house in America, he connects everything back to community and being the grateful son of resilient refugees.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/inside-one-knights-network-to-the-white-house\/","og_site_name":"University of Central Florida News | UCF Today","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/UCF","article_published_time":"2024-02-19T13:53:31+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":800,"url":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2024\/02\/Ricky-Ly.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Nicole Dudenhoefer '17","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@UCF","twitter_site":"@UCF","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Nicole Dudenhoefer '17","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/inside-one-knights-network-to-the-white-house\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/inside-one-knights-network-to-the-white-house\/"},"author":{"name":"Nicole Dudenhoefer '17","@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/9d80c5f96623baaf4ec084540ceb2407"},"headline":"Inside One Knight\u2019s Network to the White House","datePublished":"2024-02-19T13:53:31+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/inside-one-knights-network-to-the-white-house\/"},"wordCount":1000,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/inside-one-knights-network-to-the-white-house\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2024\/02\/Ricky-Ly.jpg","keywords":["College of Engineering and Computer Science","Community Impact","UCF Alumni"],"articleSection":["Alumni","Community"],"inLanguage":"en-US","copyrightYear":"2024","copyrightHolder":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/#organization"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/inside-one-knights-network-to-the-white-house\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/inside-one-knights-network-to-the-white-house\/","name":"Inside One Knight\u2019s Network to the White House | University of Central Florida News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/inside-one-knights-network-to-the-white-house\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/inside-one-knights-network-to-the-white-house\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2024\/02\/Ricky-Ly.jpg","datePublished":"2024-02-19T13:53:31+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/9d80c5f96623baaf4ec084540ceb2407"},"description":"When civil engineering alum Ricky Ly \u201908 is asked about his career, his accolades, and his recent invitation to the best-known house in America, he connects everything back to community and being the grateful son of resilient refugees.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/inside-one-knights-network-to-the-white-house\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/inside-one-knights-network-to-the-white-house\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/inside-one-knights-network-to-the-white-house\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2024\/02\/Ricky-Ly.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2024\/02\/Ricky-Ly.jpg","width":1200,"height":800,"caption":"(Photo courtesy of Ricky Ly \u201908)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/inside-one-knights-network-to-the-white-house\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Inside One Knight\u2019s Network to the White House"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/","name":"University of Central Florida News | UCF Today","description":"Central Florida Research, Arts, Technology, Student Life and College News, Stories and More","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/9d80c5f96623baaf4ec084540ceb2407","name":"Nicole Dudenhoefer '17","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0eafe9f8522ea36420e16503c4ea5eded2f876d29a0c189ed66c195f65ced6e9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0eafe9f8522ea36420e16503c4ea5eded2f876d29a0c189ed66c195f65ced6e9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0eafe9f8522ea36420e16503c4ea5eded2f876d29a0c189ed66c195f65ced6e9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Nicole Dudenhoefer '17"},"url":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/author\/ni563285\/"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/inside-one-knights-network-to-the-white-house\/#local-main-organization-logo","url":"","contentUrl":"","caption":"University of Central Florida"}]}},"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2024\/02\/Ricky-Ly-300x200.jpg","primary_category":15992,"primary_tag":973,"author_byline":"Robert Stephens","acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139753","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=139753"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139753\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":146325,"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139753\/revisions\/146325"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/139754"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=139753"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=139753"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=139753"},{"taxonomy":"tu_author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tu_author?post=139753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}