Changing

Changing Who I Am Born in a small town in Fujian, China, a place with a population less than two hundred people, I could not have ever imagined myself standing here today, at Michigan State University, and becoming one of the forty-seven thousand students. My story began in China. I was a small town girl that moved to a bigger city. In another part of my life, I moved from China to the United States of America. And then, I graduated from a small high school and entered a large college, where I now find myself residing. Faced with so many changes, unexpectedly coming from a new environment, I began to realize that as my background changed, I had also changed. Looking back, making a transition from place to place is nothing new to me. When I was eight, my mom left China and came to the United States to create a better life for my younger brother and me. As a result, my brother and I would have a better opportunity at education. My dad did not have time to take care of us because he had a business to run. Therefore, my family decided to let our teachers take care of us temporarily. We left our small town, and stayed at our teachers’ houses, for eight years. Every year, we had a new teacher; so, we had to move to a totally different environment. I had not only to take care of myself, but also my younger brother. I knew that I had to be stronger; there was no one to take care of me when I got sick; to pick me up when I missed the bus; or show up to every parent-teacher conference. Compared to my peers, I was more mature because I had understood, at an earlier age, that I could not increase my parents’ burden. Gradually, I became more and more independent. As the years passed, I had gained the ability to face situations alone. Then three years ago, I said good-bye to my motherland, China, and came to the United States. Living in another country I soon realized that adopting a new culture is inevitable. The three most significant cultural