Interview with Hong Tian

I decided to interview my close family friend, Hong, who immigrated from China about two decades ago. She grew up in Lanzhou, the capital city of northwest China’s Gansu province, and studied in Beijing. Thanks to her college professor, who encouraged her to study abroad in America due to her impeccable grades and brightness, she decided to apply for Columbia University. Though she did not expect much, she was accepted with a full scholarship which allowed her to attend such a prestigious and expensive program in America! So, following college, she left her home country for the first time and moved to New York City with her college sweetheart, Xiaodong, to attend Columbia University together. At first, living in Harlem was a little difficult because Hong did not find it as nice as Beijing, and, growing up as only child, she came not knowing how to take care of herself. Thanks to her strong English base, as she had been studying the language since she was only 12 years old, the help of Xiaodong, and her determinedness though, she not only found her place in this new country, but thrived. Soon she earned her Bio Statistics PhD, and was lucky enough to land her first job right after her first interview with Johnson & Johnson, the perfect pharmaceutical company for her in her eyes, where she worked for 16 years. What she thought would just be a temporary stay in the U.S. turned out to be permanent as she later married her college & university sweetheart and began to start her own family in New Jersey. She soon realized that returning to China would’ve been too big of a culture shock all over again after having settled in America, and she had already fallen in love with America’s welcoming, diverse community that had many immigrants like her which encouraged her to stay longer. Today, she still works and lives in New Jersey with her husband and two children, surrounded by friends from various backgrounds (like my family) who love her and her contagious positive energy. Above all, she’s grateful to this country which has given her so much, but still holds close ties to her dear family and culture in China.