Rena Wang

Rena participated in CLS Chinese in Changchun, China after graduating with her master’s in public health in 2018. She has had a close connection with China throughout her life as a second-generation immigrant and heritage speaker of Chinese. Previously, she and her sister would return to China frequently to visit their dad and to train for badminton, which allowed them both later to represent Team USA at the Olympics. Her parents and sister currently live in China, and while throughout her life she has visited Southern China numerous times, traveling with a cohort of CLS students in a language learning environment opened a different experience of China for her.

Rena’s parents were very supportive of her exploring her roots by learning more about culture and language. Growing up, she was made to attend Chinese classes each weekend and it felt like a burden to her. Now, she has found new meaning and motivation to learn the language.

“The most meaningful part about learning Chinese has been the positive impact it has had on my relationship with my parents and family. I now realize that a lot of our tension growing up originate from cultural barriers, so I am thankful that I had the opportunity to better understand the world they come from. Learning Chinese has deepened my relationship with my parents and family and allowed me to empathize with the Chinese immigrant families that I work with.”