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Hi there! My name is Jiahua (Susan) Wu and I was born in Guangzhou, China, but raised in New York City. I attended the Bronx High School of Science and am currently finishing up my first year at the Macaulay Honors College at CUNY Baruch. I lived in Brooklyn for most of my childhood, but have resided in Flushing, Queens for about 8 years.
In October of 1988, my father and his immediate family immigrated to the United States. In 1989, the same year I was born, he returned to China to marry my mother, and 2 years later my mother, uncle and I joined him in America. At the time, I was only 14 months old and while I can technically be considered a first generation Chinese-American, I've basically spent most of my life growing up here.
When my father arrived in '88, he worked odd end jobs at Chinese restaurants to support his family and to save up money before he married my mother. The restaurants were often owned by Chinese who had immigrated earlier, but rather than finding workers who most likely spoke some English, they helped out by staffing recent Chinese immigrants. Both of my parents grew up during the Cultural Revolution and before they could complete their education, were sent to the countryside to till the lands and harvest crops - a common fate for many of the young people at the time. Therefore, as soon as my father ensured that my mother and I were settled in and that he had saved up enough money, he sought to finish his education. Eventually, he learned English, found a better job and we moved to a larger apartment complex in Brooklyn in the Sunset Park area. After my brother was born and there were two almost teenagers living in a cramped apartment, my parents saved up and purchased a house in College Point, Queens.
I've always been surrounded by Chinese culture as the areas where we lived are famous for being heavily Chinese populated. While my parents placed an importance on education and success, very American ideals, my brother and I were still raised on traditional Chinese values. As a result, I have attained both sides of the cultures I've grown up in.
While most of my father's family is in America, a large extent of my mother's family (including my maternal grandmother) still reside in China. Every year or two, my family travels back to China to visit them. I get the chance to share my experiences from America with them and they pass on a bit more of Chinese culture for me to bring back. This past April 2nd, my family celebrated 17 years in America.
EMAIL: susanwu29@gmail.com
