Dr. Lily kawm tiav los ntawm Harvard University nrog Bachelor's degree thiab University of Georgia nrog PhD hauv Creative Writing, thiab yog tus tau txais los ntawm John Harvard Scholars, uas yog muab rau saum 5% ntawm cov tub ntxhais kawm. Nws tau ua haujlwm hauv Northwestern University, ranked 15th nyob rau hauv lub ntiaj teb no, thiab tau qhia lus Askiv thiab Tib Neeg ntawm Lub Tsev Kawm Ntawv Nueva, tus No. 1 tsev kawm ntawv pej xeem hauv San Francisco Bay Area, txij li thaum 2014. Nws yog tus cob qhia, tus kws qhia kev kawm thiab tus kws tshaj lij hauv cheeb tsam uas tau txhawb nqa ntau tus tub ntxhais kawm, thiab tau pab ntau tus tub ntxhais kawm ua tiav rau hauv Stanford University.