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Ryan Liang

Hi, everyone. My name is Balong Liang, but please feel free to call me Ryan. I graduated form Edward R. Murrow H.S. in Midwood, Brooklyn. I am currently a lower sophomore majoring in actuarial science at Baruch College. I have enormous interests in mathematics, especially its application in finance, and computer science.

I was born and raised in a small city called Enping in Guangdong, China. My parents have always emphasized the importance of education since I was a little child. They both believe that high education would lead one to a productive and successful life. As a matter of fact, they both had benefited from their education before moving to here.

In China my mother went to the most selective high school in her town. A year before finishing up high school, she was sent to a rural area working on farmlands because of the Cultural Revolution in which educated people were viewed as threats to the government. After the Cultural Revolution ended, she came back to her hometown and worked as a teacher in a middle school. Because of her ambition to earn a college degree, she quited her job and went to a college pursuing a nursing degree. She was the valedictorian in her graduating class. She worked as a hospital administrator until I was born.

My father is not college educated, but he went to a trade school studying mechanics. He was in automobile business during the time when I grew up. He operated a small automobile assembly plant in 1990s. He basically bought cars that were unassembled and cut in half, which now I configure that they were imported from Japan as scrap metal in order to circumvent high import tariffs. He and his crew were able to build new cars and sold them to clients in major coastal cities. In 1997 my father closed down the assembly plant and opened up a factory manufacturing tires. However, the business failed and he lost most of his fortune. It prompted him to move the family to New York City in a hope that my sister and I would have better education and more opportunities in America.

This is a photo of my great grandfather, great grandmother, grandfather, and grandaunts. This picture was taken was taken in Beijing during the reign of Qing Dysnasty.

I came to New York City when I was twelve. I was a bit disappointed because I did not get the experience I had expected. Living in a Chinese enclave in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, I did not feel living in a new life, expect that I went to a junior high school with a large proportion of Hispanics. I had Chinese teachers and made friends with Chinese peers. Because of all that, I did not feel the need to assimilate to American culture. I once felt that I was a man without culure when my mother stopped following Chinese rituals,such as paying tribute to Chinese gods and goddesses, and celebrating Chinese holidays. Fortunately, my life start to change when I attended a high school in Midwood, Brooklyn. I met people from different cultures, and in the meantime, I started assimilating into American culture.

Currently, I live in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. It used to be an Italian enclave, but now Chinese people are taking over. If you want to know more about me, I can be reached at: balong.liang@baruchmail.cuny.edu.