The American dream.
Many immigrants have traveled long and far, away from their homeland to come to America in hopes of a better life. America to them symbolizes a land of opportunities, in which they could thrive and blossom from pieces of dirt to a beautiful cherry blossom that everyone admires. But this dream was rarely achieved by any. These immigrants often realized, after a few years in America, that they were faced with defeat and judgment by those who were born on this homeland. Competition was fierce and it was relatively easy for one to spot an immigrant. His/her accent usually gave him/her away. But this was not the case for Joanne.
Joanne, otherwise know as Yan Jia Hui is currently a freshman attending Macaulay Honors College at Baruch. At first glance, no one would even suspect that Joanne immigrated here from, Guangzhou with her family at twelve years old. She speaks perfect English, is doing well in school, and is attending a prestigious college. Normally, those who immigrate to America at her age either have trouble speaking English or have a strong accent. But Joanne was lucky enough to have learned English when she was still living in China. Joanne was one of the lucky ones.
Jia Hui’s family was a relatively well-off family in Guangzhou. She did not have to worry about her living cost or tuition for school like many other children in China did. Her family was engaged in multiple businesses in the mainland of China and for the most part of her life in China, she lived carefree, not having to worry about money. But her education was the one thing that she stressed about. “School was a lot harder then it was here. In China, we didn’t get out of school until 5 unlike in the U.S.” It was stressful going to school in China since there was a high pressure for students to get into the one of the C9 League universities, the Ivy League of China. Because of the nature of Chinese culture, the pressure that Jia Hui faced was not only from her parents but also society as a whole. In order to be a step ahead of her competitors for admission into college, Joanne’s parents thought that immigrating to the U.S. would be the best for her and her future.
Joanne’s grandfather was the first of her family to move to the United States. He faced great risk and arrived in the United States illegally as an alien. After arriving, he went through the proper court procedures that he needed in order to get his green card and become an American citizen. He did all of this in order to bring Joanne and her mother to the United States in search of a better life. Joanne said that once she arrived in America to start sixth grade, she did not experience much change or difficulty adjusting to her new life. Because Joanne was one of the more fortunate ones, she did not even struggle with the language barrier since she learned the language prior to moving to America. With school in the America being easier than it was in China, adapting to an easier school curriculum proved to be simple, as well. In China, Joanne was seen as gifted in math and was placed in an intense math development program called Olympia when she was in second grade; But she was kicked out of the program in fourth grade because she did not pass the qualification exam to move on to the next level in the program. She was glad that she was dropped from the program because it was too stressful for her. She was even happier that did not have to be forced into another program similar to this, when starting school in America.
Looking back one of the biggest changes that Jia Hui realized was that she more or less “forced” to become more independent. When she lived in China, her grandparents and parents were always home to take care of her. However, once she moved to America that all changed. Her mother started community college and was working an office job so Jia Hui’s mother did not have much free time to take care of her. Her grandfather, at the time, was also working a restaurant job with eleven-hour shifts. Her father was still attached to his business in China and frequently went on business trips back to Guangzhou. As an only child, Jia Hui had to learn how to cook, clean, and take care of herself.
“I like it here better.” Jia Hui said. Compared to China, she preferred living in America because New York is a lot quieter than China, even though she had to be more independent. At first, I found that hard to believe since there is an abundance of noise pollution in New York City. But Joanne quickly told me that since Guangzhou is so populated that it was the people that were noisy and not really the city itself. I guess my response was subjective since I just assumed that the city that never sleeps would be one of the noisiest cities to live in. However, Woodside, Brooklyn, where Joanne currently resides, is a lot quieter compared to Manhattan. Joanne also told me that she had more friends here compared to the friends she is still currently in contact with in China. And even though Jia Hui does like it better in New York, she still feels a deep connection back to Guangzhou and her homeland. Every year Joanne travels back to Guangzhou to visit her old friends and reconnect with the city she grew up in. Joanne was one of the lucky ones. Many people today do not have the luxury of returning to their homeland every year with a green card because they are unable to obtain their green card or have never attempted to because of the risk of deportation. She was one of the lucky ones.
Having more fortunate circumstances compared to other immigrants did lead to Joanne working any less hard in the hopes of achieving the American dream or becoming a successful accountant. In fact, she had to work just as hard as the less fortunate if not harder to prove herself, “there were no excuses to slack off.” She first saw the results of her hard work, when she received her admittance letter to Stuyvesant High School, one of the nation’s best high schools. Very few knew that she was taking the Specialized High School Admissions Test (SHSAT) because she did not want to give people hope and then take that hope away.
Stuyvestant High School
Getting admitted to Stuyvesant High School was one of the best things that had happened to her since coming to the American. High school helped Jia Hui overcome her shyness and made her more open to meeting new people. Senior year of high school was when Joanne made the most memories and had the most fun because the school hosted many senior activity events and there were “promposals” going on throughout the year. But to enjoy senior year, Joanne also need to work hard to be admitted into a good college. That is exactly what she did and it all paid off when she received her Macaulay Honors admittance email.
Now she is sitting in front of me telling me about her transition into American culture. At this point, I’ve realized something. Joanne is Jia Hui and Jia Hui is Joanne. They are interchangeable names and are equal to each other. Joanne is part of her identity in the America today and was one of the first changes she made in order to fit in. However, Yan Jia Hui is her legal name and that is who she is. Her Chinese name represents her culture and background that she will never be able to change or forget because she was born into it and it’s her cultural background. There will always be a connection back to Guangzhou no matter what Joanne becomes in the future. Her parents will away call her Jia Hui when she returns home. In America, she may be known as Joanne but in Guangzhou she will always be known as Yan Jia Hui.
Dual Identity: Chinese American Flag
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