Although her father discouraged Cheong from pursuing a writing career, Cheong earned a B.A. in English and an M.F.A in Creative Writing from Cornell University. She has taught at Howard University, Cornell University, and at the Hurston-Wright Writers Workshop. She has also been a judge for the Drue Heinz Literature Prize and the Massachusetts Council for the Arts Awards. Alongside her teaching, she is also the co-founder of the Asian American Writers Forum and The Writers of Color Workshop at the University of Pittsburgh.