T'iuwen was born on Vulcan and raised by her uncle for most of her life. Her uncle, Strofu, was a kolinahr teacher at a monastery. T'iuwen and her older brother Sawan were raised strictly according to the tenets of kolinahr, and expected to take their final rites once they reached adulthood. Sawan disagreed with their uncle's plan, believing that they needed to be exposed to emotional cultures in order to understand the logic of the rites for themselves. Sawan enrolled in the Vulcan Science Academy and then transferred into diplomatic relations. He encouraged T'iuwen to join the science academy, but she surprised everyone by joining Starfleet instead, choosing to go directly to where she believed the chaos was in order to find the truth for herself.
