Hey all! I’m Em, a 16-year-old in Oregon. The first year of my life was spent in an orphanage in Jiangxi, China until I was adopted by my parents and brought to the U.S.

I expressed interest in learning Mandarin from a young age, so my parents enrolled me in a Mandarin-immersion school. I learned how to speak Mandarin fluently and was surrounded by a lot of cultural traditions. I feel very fortunate to have that connection with my Chinese ancestry and am definitely seeking out more connections.

I live in a pretty diverse, liberal area and fortunately, haven’t experienced much discrimination or harassment. I feel unsure and a bit scared about being a young adult and how my background will impact my life though. Lately I’ve been getting into music and kickboxing. I also love reading webtoons, cooking, drawing and going on adventures!