Hello! My name is Christina Wu, and I’m a Chinese American immigrant who came to the United States toward the very end offirst grade. One of the main reasons I’m so passionate about pursuing education is because of the lack of support I experienced within the system growing up. It influenced me deeply and ultimately transformed the way I view and understand the world. Growing up, education was introduced to me by my first social group, my parents, as something that would lead to success in the job market. Most of my understanding of school, reinforced by teachers and grades, came down to a single number or letter. I never really grasped the significance of what I was learning or how it connected to the real world. For me, the content and my reality felt like completely separate entities. It often felt as though I was navigating the world not with tools that shaped me, but ones that worked against me. That’s why it’s so important to me that education is delivered in a way that helps students discover their own strength and individuality, as a web of support that helps them find their place in the world.