Trini Kwan (Tragedies and Triumphs)

Trini Lanying Kwan (born 9 August 1979) was the first Yellow Ranger. She also made a name for herself as an International Young Peace Ambassador in Geneva, Switzerland, representing her native United States alongside former Red Ranger Jason Scott and former Black Ranger Zack Taylor.

Early life and interests
Trini was born in Houston, Texas, the only child of Richard Kwan and Ni Mingxia (her mother did not officially change her name upon marriage, but did sometimes call herself "Mingxia Kwan"), both of Mandarin Chinese descent. Her mother had a difficult childbirth and was attended upon by a pretty and kind nurse named María Trinidad, after whom Trini was named.

Trini's father was an officer in the U.S. military and the family lived in Houston, West Point, Key West and Baton Rouge before her father retired and decided to settle near his family in Angel Grove, California. Consequently Trini had little time to form lasting friendships, but being somewhat introverted, this fact bothered her little. Something of a tomboy, her only stereotypically feminine hobby as a child was her collection of stuffed animals and eccentric dolls: most of the time, her preferred diversions consisted of Kung Fu (to her father's delight), scuba diving and bicycling (and she just could not wait to be old enough to drive a motor bike). Her mother insisted she take violin lessons, but Trini was never passionate about the instrument although she played it from age 5 till age 13.

The daughter of two chemical engineers, Trini was surrounded by math and science from the very beginning, and had inherited her parents' natural competence in the fields, always doing well in all subjects at school. Her favorite subject was literature, however, and beginning in about sixth grade, she began taking a fascination with religion, though more as a cultural force than the actual spirituality.

Family and religious views
Trini's father was born to Chinese immigrants in Los Angeles, California; his parents had left the People's Republic in 1952 to escape the persecution they had known there as Evangelical Christians. paternal Trini's grandparents were extremely proud both of their Chinese heritage and of the fact that their ancestors were among the first Chinese to give their lives to Christ through the London Missionary Society, in the 1850s. They had always told their three children, Richard, Howard and Hannah, to "never forget that you are Americans, that it was the British who brought us to Christ, and the Americans, among whom we are proud to number, who gave you a nationality in which to practice the customs of your ancestors!" Richard's faith waned somewhat, however, after he joined the military subsequent to his engineering degree and did a tour in Vietnam. In 1974 he found himself in San Francisco, where he met Mingxia, then a Chinese exchange student studying chemical engineering at Cal Tech. They would be married two years later. Richard would rediscover and become more active in his Christianity from 1990.

Mingxia was born near Shanghai to Buddhist parents. Richard's parents were somewhat recalcitrant about their son marrying a non-Christian, but when Mingxia agreed to have the wedding in a Methodist church, they calmed somewhat. There were minor tensions with the senior Kwans after it became obvious that Trini was not being raised a Christian, but they soon came to accept that they could not interfere in their son's nuclear family.

Trini does not have a formal religious affiliation. She was taught - from a bird's eye view - both Christian and Buddhist customs as well as Western and Taoist philosophy. Mindful of the time that had passed, Trini's father did not attempt to impose his religion on his family when he rekindled his Christian faith, but Mingxia suggested that the family go to church all together on Christmas and Easter, "so Trini can get to know these important customs from this side of her family."

Trini believes in God, but confided in Kimberly that "If someone who knows who or what God is could explain to me how he knows, I'd be all ears." She enjoys the wisdom to be gleaned from Taoist philosophy; however, the few attempts she'd made at Buddhist meditation had not, for her, been particularly fruitful. Regarding Christianity, she has said that, having grown up in the West, she feels it might be difficult for her to transcend the cultural jungle of which she is part and just look at the religion itself.