Why didn't your parents go to college? 

My parents are from China. My dad left high school to start working. His family was poor and he went to work in China. My mom also started working after high school.

 

Did you always know/plan on going to college?

I remember when I was younger, I was probably 11 or 12. Harvard was on the news or something, and my uncle asked me as a joke: “Do you want to go to Harvard?”. I was like “no, no”. I used to watch Gilmore Girls, and I was like “no, I want to go to Yale”. This was during late elementary school or early middle school.

 

I knew I always wanted to go to college. 

 

Do you think your parents would have gone to college had they had the chance?

I definitely think they'd do it. They probably would have gone. They were the stereotypical immigrant parents who were so focused on schoolwork and grades. If given the chance they’d take it. I come from a working class family. Education is the way to get more money and live an easier life, cuz growing up we were super poor. 

 

How much different do you think your life would be if your parents went to college?

I think I would have grown up less poor. I think because they do non-skiled labor and their english isn’t that well. If they’d gone to college they would have better jobs and more opportunities. The job my dad had when I was in middle school and he was really good and was told that the reason why he didn’t get a promotion was because his english sucks. 

 

What do your parents do?

My parents sell things at the flea market on the weekends they are mobile new york sellers.

 

What was your personal reason for going to college? Has this changed since being in college?

It was always instilled in me that college was the next step. I guess it always made sense, whatever I wanted to do, I would learn that and figure it out because of college. Since coming here, I’ve seen this as a really great academic opportunity I wouldn’t have elsewhere at any time in my life.

 

What is your dream job or how do you see yourself "using" your degree in future?

I don’t know what my dream job is. When I was younger, my dream job was to be an actress. I think about it sometimes, but it’s not my realistic dream job. I think I would like to work in social work and public policy, but because my family is really poor I know that isn’t what I’m doing directly out of college. I would like to make some money to support my family. Ultimately, I want to keep doing things and improving, and always challenging myself to reach for the stars. 

 

What will be the biggest benefit of your college degree in your personal life? professional life?

Connections. The name. I love learning and school, but I hate grades and exams. But I think the greatest benefit of Harvard is the Harvard name. I took really cool classes and learned a lot but don’t know if they’d translate into helping pique my interest.

 

What’s your dream?

I know somewhere down the line I would like to do something in public policy and social work. I want to do something with meaning.

 

Who are the biggest influences on you in your life?

My parents just because I know of how hard they work, and I have made up my mind to be able to work hard at school and try to find a good job and I never want to work as hard and not see the results and pay it back to them.

 

What is it like being a first generation student? 

I think it took me a really long time to realize that most of my friends have parents who went to college and they go to their parents for advice on education and college and stuff like that frequently. And I just never realized that I don’t have that support. My parents were just like do well in school and everything else will come. I guess it makes it harder. I think being very adamant about not wanting to label myself as a first-gen affected my college experience because I think there were times when I could reach out and could have used advice or guidance but I didn’t have it.

 

What has been your biggest struggle in college?

I think I have had some personal struggles and didn’t know how to reconcile that in a high pressure place.

do you think that overall, personally or from meeting/talking to other First Gens, that first gens have a stronger work ethic than non-first gen students?