my name is katie
I plan to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in nursing, then work in the field for a few years before returning for a doctorate in nursing practice. It would be optimal to either go down to the US-Mexican border to work with refugees at border facilities, or to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota to help citizens there. After graduate school, I’d like to work in a clinic or hospital in a big city as a pediatric nurse practitioner, and, when I’m older perhaps return to one of my alma maters to teach nursing.
Being from China has shaped parts of myself, especially the parts dealing with my strength and pride. People will tell Chinese kids growing up in the United States they’re not Chinese enough, or they’re too Chinese, or a thousand other things that have no reflection of the person in question. Being from China has shaped me by making me different from others in a country with a clear dominant group that isn’t my own. Understanding a culture that is mine but not always accessible, finding the will to learn about it when there aren’t always people to teach you, persisting in loving it even though others make you feel bad for having it — those things, over the years, have made me proud of where I come from and unapologetic of how I show it. Growing up as a Chinese adoptee has given me a unique perspective on race and biculturalism. It’s also given me access to special communities, like my dance community, that I would never have had if not for my circumstances. I had the privilege to learn from traditional Chinese instructors, older dancers, and my own peers, the latter being two Chinese American adoptees just like me. Having this community made being a Chinese girl in Minnesota a gift because I could reach both my Chinese and Chinese American culture at the same time and find delight in both.
The events of this year have definitely made me think about colossal issues facing everyone in the world, but especially this country. Being a nurse, living in a big city, and eventually treating refugees or Native American people, these goals have not drifted away. It’s actually strengthened their importance. The instances of seeing how nurses took Covid-19 by its reins, seeing first hand how my city reacted to the death of George Floyd, protesting, cleaning, and dancing alongside strangers, listening to people’s stories— their disparagements, their ignorance, their survival— they’ve all taught me equity is a choice, one that has to be made again and again for it to stick. This year delivered a well-needed blow to the façade covering up inequality in this country, and I hope when I’m older I can help mend the damage that’s been so constantly made to certain sects of the population.