From The Peopling of New York City
Hi, my name is Emily Lin. I am currently attending Brooklyn College in the Macaulay Honors Program. I am still undecided about my major, but I might venture into Art and Law. I have a lot of hobbies and Japanese manga/anime is what got me thinking of majoring in Art. I love to play handball, watch funny movies, swim, travel and a lot of other stuff. I like to draw and paint. I have a chihuahua and a cat. I am the middle child of an older sister (who is also in the Macaulay Honors Program studying in Hunter College) and a younger brother.
How I Became a New Yorker Essay
Technically, since I was born in New York, the moment that I came into the world, I became a New Yorker. I am the middle child with an older sister, Olivia, and a younger brother, Andrew. My mother, Susan, gave birth to the three of us in Beekman Hospital, which was right near Chinatown where my family lived. My parents were not originally from New York, but from Hong Kong and China. Their journey to America was essential and provided the foundation for me to become a New Yorker.
My father, Steve, came to America from Hong Kong to pursue his education in college since it was difficult to get into college in Hong Kong and there wasn’t any financial aid. He went to Houston, Texas where a few of his relatives resided and stayed with them while attending the University of Houston. While he studied in school, he also worked part-time in a restaurant to earn money to pay for his tuition and living expenses. During his time at the restaurant, Steve met my mother who also worked in the restaurant. My mother, Susan, came from Guangzhou, China hoping to find better opportunities than the ones in China. They began dating, but some time after, my mother wanted to move to New York. Steve decided to bring her there and have her meet his mother’s sister, so she would have some help there. He made sure she settled down before he went back to Houston to continue his education. After three years in college, he left Houston and went to New York to find Susan. They found each other and got married soon after.
Even though they had each other, they could not overlook the fact that they had to work to support themselves. Steve started to work at a restaurant and Susan worked in a clothing factory. Finding money was so important that the night before my older sister’s birth, my mother was still working in the factory. Two years after, I was born on Mother’s Day and a little less than a year after that, my brother was born. During the first six years of my life, I lived in Chinatown in an apartment building right next to Columbus Park. I attended Pre-K and elementary school in Chinatown.
However, my family decided to move to Brooklyn because they were able to buy a house for the five of us. Since my siblings and I were growing up, there wasn’t enough room in the apartment for the five of us. Although we moved to Brooklyn, my parents still worked in Chinatown and my siblings and I still went to school in Chinatown. Afterward, I started to go to junior high school in Brooklyn, but it was a huge change because I was not use to a school that the Asian ethnicity was not the majority of the class. It took me about a year to adapt to this “culture shock”, but it made me withdrawn, quiet, and extremely shy. By the time I attended high school, I was still shy, but I was use to being around other ethnicities.
During my high school career, I became more outgoing, confident, and serious about my future. I started to work harder to attain better grades because my parents worked hard at their own businesses to support our family. I took part in community projects such as “Meals on Wheels” which delivered food to home bound elderly people, the raising of funds for St. Judes Hospital, the Bike-A-Thon, and Breast Cancer walks. As a result of taking part in community projects, I learned a lot about my community and that a little help goes a long way. By working harder and making an effort to take part in my community, I got into the Macaulay Honors Program at Brooklyn College. My parents were extremely proud and happy for me as they were for my sister when she got into the program two years before I did.
Although I was born and raised in Chinatown, I feel more familiar with Brooklyn because I lived in Brooklyn much longer. Chinatown became too crowded and noisy because I became so use to Brooklyn’s serene lifestyle. I found it easier to move around in Brooklyn and that there are much more attractions and beautiful sights. Chinatown will always be the place where I grew up in, but Brooklyn will always be the place where I live.
Despite the fact that my parents were immigrants, they worked hard to raise a family and to establish themselves in a foreign country. If my parents had not immigrated to America and met in Houston, my whole life probably would not exist right now. I was given the chance of education, of being able to have the freedom to attain my goals, of being able to live comfortably and having a stable lifestyle. By being in such a culturally diverse state, adapting to it, and having the ambition and the opportunity to achieve my goals, this made me a true New Yorker.
Gallery of Photos
