“From, like, elementary school I knew I was going to go to America…”
In the back of his head, Roy Lin knew that sometime in the future, he would be taking that twenty-two hour flight to New York City. “We were just told ‘you guys are going to america’ since a young age and we had the concept in our head already that we were going sometime soon,” he said. Roy boarded his plane from Fuqing, Fuzhou, China with his parents and younger sister when he was thirteen years old and came to live in New York City. With extended family already established here, they had loved ones they could rely on as they got settled into their new, American lives.
When they arrived, they moved to Flushing, Queens. Roy and his family lived in his uncle’s attic for over a year before moving out, a drastic change from the comfortable, spacious apartment that they owned in China. “My parents spent a lot of fortune to get us to here, so I knew it was going to be hard at first,” Roy said, understandingly. Roy knew the two main reasons for his family’s immigration were so he and his sister could get a better education and have more opportunities to pursue. Roy remembers that his parents actually said they plan on moving back to China after his younger sister graduates from college. “They really came for us.”
Roy(left), with his mother (middle), and younger sister(right) when he was 8 years old in China.
Roy immigrated to the United States after finishing seventh grade, or in his case, his first year of middle school. In China, middle school is grades seven through nine, instead of six through eight like it is in America. “I remember walking into school for the first day,” he said, “I don’t remember seeing any ‘Chinese Chinese’ that I could recognize directly.” Roy made the distinction between himself and the other Chinese kids that his teacher had seated him with. They were “ABC” or, “American Born Chinese,” meaning that they did not grow up in China like he had.
Because Roy did not speak English when he arrived, he had to attend three different language prep centers. Roy says that he remembers being in school and not talking to anyone. He said that he used to just point at the food he wanted to eat in the lunchroom. “The lunch ladies would say stuff to me that I didn’t understand so I would just smile at them.” Not able to understand anyone and not able to be understood, Roy felt lonely and isolated. In order to feel more at home, he would go home after school to call his friends in China.
Roy in line for a class picture at age 11 in China.
However, Roy was aware that going to school in America may have its perks!
Chuckling to himself, Roy remembered how the concept of easy math gave ease to the thirteen year old boy making a life changing journey to America. Roy had been receiving A’s in his classes in China without much effort, therefore he believed coming to New York for school…
“besides the fact that the education system is based on a totally different language,” was going to be “much less pressure.”
When people talk about their immigration story, they often reflect on times of struggle. Immigrating to a completely new continent, country, state, and city poses a real obstacle for many, as things like language barriers and cultural differences make it seem like it may be impossible to ever feel at home in such a foreign place.
Roy chose to see the benefits in what many may conceive as a struggle. Although he could not speak the language, he was not threatened by the American education system. In describing a standard day of a seventh grader in China, it is clear why. Roy’s day started with waking up at 6:30am. From 7:15am-8:00am he had a morning self study session, then from 8:00am-12:00pm he had 4 classes with three 10 minute breaks in between them. Then there was a two hour break when you could decide to either go home or stay at school. Roy always stayed at school. The afternoon session went from 2:00pm-6:00pm, with 4 classes and three 10 minute breaks in between. From 6:00pm-8:00pm there was another opportunity to go home, but again, Roy never did. Finally, from 8:00pm-9:10 there was the evening self study session. Back in China, Roy was put under such immense pressure from such a young age, that he was able to come to the United States with confidence in himself that he could handle what was thrown at him.
“But I don’t miss all the hours of studying,” Roy said between a grin.
Education was the driving factor behind the Lin family’s immigration to the United States. In Chinese culture, there is a prominent mentality that education is the sole path to success. Roy also mentioned that the Chinese also particularly value “prestige.” Because of this, their immigration came with certain guidelines and expectations for both Roy and his younger sister.
Roy believes that his parents’ wish for him to get a better education has definitely been fulfilled. Regardless of the prestigious expectations they had in mind, they know that Baruch has an excellent business program and are happy that their son is pursuing what he is passionate about, making their immigration more than worth it. “If i were to describe this whole experience in one word I would say eye opening because I got exposed to so many opportunities and so many new things that I don’t want to go back,” Roy said as he reminisced about his years in New York.
“I think for me, America is definitely my home.”
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