“Shanghai, China was a quiet place. It was sometimes too quiet, too boring. Everyone wanted to go away to America, if not, at least to Japan, Australia, Spain or France.” Jane was one of the few people from her neighborhood that had the opportunity to come to America and she feels forever grateful for the opportunities she was provided with.

Jane claimed that during the 1990s, people in China had a good lifestyle and there were some opportunities out there if people tried hard enough to find them. When Jane was growing up, she did not know that coming to America was an option.

Shortly after she finished high school, she took the nationwide college entrance exam and missed the cutoff for her dream university by a few points. The National Higher Education Entrance Examination, also known as the “Gao Kao,” is held in most provinces in the People’s Republic of China. It was the test that could alter the fate of the student as it guarantees a bright future with status, wealth, and power even if the student was coming from an underprivileged environment. If the student scored high enough, they would attend university, which then would lead them to a better career. Failing the test was a devastating moment for Jane and her family. However, she was not alone. With millions of people throughout China taking the test, the percentage of people who eventually got accepted were low.

According to the South China Morning Post, approximately under 25% of the participants get into any university, and that percentage remains much the same till this day. Jane had some regrets, particularly for taking a test to go to a higher tier high school. She claimed that her school did not have a lot of funds and well-trained teachers. Although she was one of the best students in her class, the school overall did not have a lot of students that passed the exam.

Undefeated, students from her high school class were all ambitious and looked for jobs as soon as they graduated. They did not let a test define them but discovered how difficult it was to find stable and well-paying job. Some knew that they did not want to stay in China forever. In fact, many wanted to leave as soon as they could because they realized that staying to compete for a limited and highly competitive pool of opportunities was too exhausting.

Jane, at the age of 19, felt unstoppable. She was hired as a data entry clerk in the Bank of China, which was one of the most reputable banks in China. She was making 48 yuan a month which was equivalent to around 6 dollars. Although her position was more prestigious and paid more than the average high school graduate job, she wanted more.

“When China open their doors and people came back to visit, we notice they seem different and wanted to be like them.”Jane exclaimed. Jane could not pinpoint what was different, but a sense of confidence, satisfaction, and status was attained when they came back.

The Open Door Policy was a statement enacted by the United States in 1899. It was a proposal that aimed to keep the Chinese markets open to all to ensured that China would remain a stable market for US goods. This two-way policy encouraged foreigners to come to China and also encouraged Chinese people to go abroad for business, education, and tourism.

Although it was not always explicit, everyone in China envied those who went abroad. Jane and her family used to watch TV and the American movies and advertisements made it seem as if everyone was always on vacation. Especially her father who genuinely thought that everyone in America was just relaxing and enjoying themselves.

She soon believed that she would also thrive in a better in environment, preferably one outside of China. “China, at the time, seemed like it wasn’t good enough for me. I was searching for better life and that desire ultimately led me here to America.”

Jane took the Delta airline to NYC and within the first week, she found a job as a florist. It was a family owned shop and the owners were Shanghainese as well. While she was working, she got settled and acquired another job. She worked as a supermarket cashier on Main Street, Flushing. She was amazed at how clean and organized the market was compared to the street vendor markets back home.

Every month, Jane would make a salary of $1000 as a cashier. This staggering amount filled Jane with delight. She finally understands how everyone that comes back to China seemed so rich. Back in China, leather jackets were 400 yuan or 1 years worth of salary. Motivations to afford high quality goods and live comfortably played a large part in why Jane wanted to move to America. In fact, her mother was a doctor, yet she only made around 78 yuan or 13 dollars a month.

Jane knew she wanted to go to college. However, she really wanted to start making some money first. Red apple, a Jewish supermarket, was where she first worked while she was studying. Although at times it was tiring, she was satisfied because it paid well. She claims that it was fun to learn how to operate the cash register and it was a laid back environment as most of the customers were the elderly. Soon afterwards, Jane’s classwork began to pick up speed and she decided to devote her full attention to school.

She attended Queens College and she applied straight into her introduction classes. Many of her other friends first went to language school. She hoped that she would learn and pick up English as she went through her courses. Everyday she would take the bus and interact with many other ESL students that were mostly Russian, Indian and Hispanic. For the first year, she heard Accounting was great major so she just went along and followed what the other accounting majors did. Looking back, she laughs as she admits that she was not that great at math. Jane just heard it was the best major to find a job.

When asked what her favorite place was in the city, Jane delightfully answered, the American Public Library System. “I liked to learn and I especially loved learning a new language.” The Flushing library had an adult learning center in the basement and there were many floppy disks in which Jane borrowed to help expedite the learning process.  

According to the Queens Library website, the first Queens library was created at the Flushing location in 1858. The Queens Borough Public Library is currently one of the largest library systems in the world as it loaned around 13.5 million items. Queens Library at Flushing is home to the International Resource Center. This center “contains books, magazines, CDs and DVDs that represent cultures from all over the world. Queens Library at Flushing has collections in many languages, including Bengali, Chinese, French, Gujarati, Hindi, Italian, Korean, Portuguese, Punjabi, Russian, Spanish, and Urdu.” The ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) classes was part of the Adult Learner Program since 2001. Annually, more than 3,000 students receive free and formal classroom instructions and even more use the self-study materials provided and practice English with volunteer tutors.

On the first day of arrival, Jane’s husband won a TV with English channels. Eventually, after months of attending classes and visiting the library, she began to understand the words. All her dots connected in the end. “I do not regret my decision coming here and the path I took to get to where I am. It was perfect.”   

 

References

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Open Door Policy.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 15 Dec. 2017, www.britannica.com/event/Open-Door-policy.

“History.” Queens Library, www.queenslibrary.org/about-us/history.

“How One Exam Can Set the Course of a Student’s Life in China.” South China Morning Post, South China Morning Post, 12 June 2017, www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2097512/gaokao-how-one-exam-can-set-course-students-life-china.

“National Higher Education Entrance Examination : Criticism .” K12academics, K12academics.Com , www.k12academics.com/Education Worldwide/Education in China/History/Higher Education in China/National Higher Education-2.