Emily Wang
In honor of the Thanksgiving and homecoming season, we at the Youth Leadership Academy(YLA)of the Milwaukee Chinese Community Center(MCCC) and Milwaukee Chinese Times(MCT) conducted a small survey of Milwaukee area high school graduates and their paths into adulthood. From this, we are hoping to create a platform for future graduates to look back at and realize that there is a whole community that may be miles away, but also is still fully supporting them.
Once the life outside of high school starts, it’s easy to get disconnected. Many thanks to the parents for reaching out to their children. In our first survey, we ended up surveying 34 people. The response was from 12 states and 72% of them were from the east and west coast.
The people who took the survey are from 17 different high schools. The oldest person we reached was graduated from Wauwautosa West High School in 1994 and the youngest one was graduated from Waukesha South High School in 2018.
We also grouped the people’s college majors into 9 different categories. Each person’s major was/is different. The common trend seemed to be that no matter what the major was, the profession could end up being completely unrelated. For example, the person with a Spanish major is currently pursuing a dental medicine degree at Harvard and another person has a Philosophy degree and is now an engineer at Google.
Overall, each person is unique in his/her own way. The YLA of MCCC team and MCT youth section team are looking to make this long term effort to become a bigger series. So we reopened the survey The Special Homecoming 2018 to continue to welcome more people to register and join us.
Following this article, we will also conduct a few interviews and report in different articles.
The following list is in alphabetical order of high school. Each person is therefore listed with their responses.
Arrowhead High School (1)
| Name: | Natalie Wen |
| Graduating High School Year | 2014 |
| Major in College | Spanish |
| Current School/ Company | Harvard School of Dental Medicine |
| Current Position | Dental Student |
| Current State | Massachusetts |
| Comments | 祝家人和MCCC的朋友们感恩节快乐！Don’t forget to share some appreciation with your loved ones. (Also, I’m surviving dental school, Mama and Baba) |
Brookfield East High School (4)
| Name: | Julia Sun | Kevin Guo |
| Graduating High School Year | 2008 | 2010 |
| Major in College | Chemistry | Economics |
| Current School/ Company | University of Chicago Hospital | Kraft Heinz |
| Current Position | Resident Physician | S&OP Supply Planner |
| Current State | Illinois | Illinois |
| Comments | 说实话学医真的很累。不是一般的累。做住院医的这几年我常问自己 这一切还值得吗？还像当初想象的那么美好吗？改行不是会轻松好多？但每当我通过我的诊断 治疗 成功拯救一个病人的生命时，这发自内心深处的喜悦和自豪，我想可能只有学医的人才会懂吧！可能上帝在跟我讲，你看，还是超值得的，对吧！ | Happy holidays! |
| Name: | Dan Lee | Alyce Ge |
| Graduating High School Year | 2011 | 2012 |
| Major in College | Mathematics | Applied Mathematics |
| Current School / Company | Goldman Sachs | Ten-X |
| Associate | Associate | Data Scientist |
| Current State | Utah | New York |
| Comments | 加油！ |
Brookfield Central High School (4)
| Name: | Ann Yuan | Teddy Zhang |
| Graduating High School Year | 2006 | 2008 |
| Major in College | Philosophy | Electrical Engineering |
| Current School/ Company | Tesla | |
| Current Position | Engineer | Engineering Product Manager |
| Current State | Massachusetts | California |
| Comments | Thanks to the Chinese community for all their support over the years! I feel very blessed! | Most successful people I know got there with hard work, talent, and bit of luck. |
| Name: | Eric Han | Brain Zhu |
| Graduating High School Year | 2008 | 2015 |
| Major in College | Computer science | Computer science |
| Current School / Companyr | Overlay Gaming | UC – Berkeley |
| Current Position | Software engineer | Senior in College |
| Current State | California | California |
| Comments | Thank you to my parents for everything they’ve done for me to help me get to where I am now. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for them! | Thanks mom and dad for everything |
Cedarburg High School (1)
| Name: | Sherry Chen |
| Graduating High School Year | 2011 |
| Major in College | Neuroscience |
| Current School/ Company | ZOG Digital |
| Current Position | Sr. Digital Strategist |
| Current State | Texas |
| Comments | Thank you, Mom and Dad, for all the support you’ve given me – I would not be where I am today without your unconditional love, patience, and selflessness. There is no problem so insurmountable that a 30-minute call with your parents can’t help solve! My advice to the younger generations in the Milwaukee Chinese community is to continue embracing your culture and heritage; younger me would never believe current me saying this, but I wish I had paid more attention in Chinese school! Our Chinese-American identity is what makes us unique and our upbringing equips us to soar to great heights, but be patient and forgiving with yourselves if you don’t get something right away or on the first try. Always ask questions and stay curious; we might be out of school, but we never stop learning. |
Eisenhower High School (3)
| Name: | Robert Qi | Tong Wang |
| Graduating High School Year | 2008 | 2011 |
| Major in College | Molecular and Cellular Biology | Chemistry |
| Current School/ Company | Duke University Health System | Perelman School of Medicine |
| Current Position | Resident Physician | MD-PhD Student |
| Current State | North Carolina | Pennsylvania |
| Comments | Go after your dreams, since anything is possible! Thank you to my parents and the community for making this possible. | What do others think you are good at? What does the world need? What would you do for free? Take the time to actively reflect on these easy questions. |
| Name: | Joanna Huang |
| Graduating High School Year | 2013 |
| Major in College | Pharmacy |
| Current School / Company | University of Colorado Hospital |
| Current Position | Pharmacist/Pharmacy Resident |
| Current State | Colorado |
| Comments | Thank you Mom and Dad and those who supported me along the way! |
Germantown High School (3)
| Name: | Ben Xue | Jerry Mao |
| Graduating High School Year | 2010 | 2011 |
| Major in College | Economics & Psychology | Film & Chinese |
| Current School/ Company | Human Agency | University of Wisconsin Athletics |
| Current Position | Co-Founder | Senior Producer |
| Current State | Missouri | Wisconsin |
| Comments | Hey Milwaukee Chinese Community! To achieve big things, we have to have big goals. Incremental progress is not good enough. If we shoot for little change, we’ll still always be playing someone else’s game. CHANGE THE GAME! Rally behind those that making big steps in the Chinese American world: – Andrew Yang, Entrepreneur, and presidential candidate in 2020 – Jon Chu, director of Crazy Rich Asians, breaking cinematic records with an All-Asian cast – Judy Chu, congresswoman of CA27, the first Chinese-American woman to serve as a US Representative,Representation matters. Make Bold Moves. |
|
| Name: | William Mao | |
| Graduating High School Year | 2017 | |
| Major in College | Evolutionary biology | |
| Current School / Company | UW-Madison | |
| Current Position | Sophomore in college | |
| Current State | Wisconsin | |
| Comments |
Homestead High School (7)
| Name: | Sophia Zhou | Emily Gao |
| Graduating High School Year | 2008 | 2008 |
| Major in College | Supply chain and operations management | Political Science |
| Current School/ Company | Pentair | Analysis Group |
| Current Position | Operational excellence manager | Senior Analyst |
| Current State | California | Massachusetts |
| Comments | ||
| Name: | Lily Zhou | Connie Wu |
| Graduating High School Year | 2008 | 2009 |
| Major in College | Computer Science | International Relations and Economics |
| Current School / Company | Facebook Inc. | American Express |
| Current Position | Software Engineer | Senior Product Manager |
| Current State | California | New York |
| Comments | Be humble, be good to others, and always try your best | Reach out to me for any college or career advice! |
| Name: | Kevin Zhou | Wendy Gao |
| Graduating High School Year | 2010 | 2012 |
| Major in College | Computer Science | Industrial Engineering |
| Current School / Company | PeopleMaven | Accenture Strategy |
| Current Position | Software Developer | Business Strategy Consultant |
| Current State | Wisconsin | Illinois |
| Name: | Marshall Peng | |
| Graduating High School Year | 2016 | |
| Major in College | Computer Science | |
| Current School / Company | Dartmouth University | |
| Current Position | Junior in college | |
| Current State | New Hampshire | |
| Comments | First off, I’d like to thank the MCCC, as it has provided me some of my fondest high school memories and experiences. After two years in college, my piece of advice for the younger members of the community to succeed in college is to find something that you’re both passionate and good at (whether its a hobby, sport, or your major). These are two equally important traits, and you should try to find something that satisfies both. Granted, this is much, much easier said than done, but once you do find this “thing”, pursue it relentlessly. I see a lot of people in college who don’t know what they want to do in life, and as a result spend a lot of time experimenting. While there’s nothing wrong with experimenting, the earlier you pick a direction, the less headache you’ll experience in the long run. |
Menomonee Falls High School (1)
| Name: | Aron Liu |
| Graduating High School Year | 2011 |
| Major in College | Mathematics and Economics |
| Current School/ Company | Finance company |
| Current Position | Data Scientist |
| Current State | Illinois |
| Comments | Study what you enjoy |
New Berlin West High School (1)
| Name: | Teresa Wan |
| Graduating High School Year | 2017 |
| Major in College | Economics |
| Current School/ Company | UC Berkeley |
| Current Position | Sophomore in College |
| Current State | California |
| Comments | As Marketing Booth Chair, Editor in Chief of Lantern Magazine and the Youth Section of Milwaukee Chinese Times, and President of YLA, I have learned various leadership skills that I have applied to my current college organizations. |
Nicolet High School (1)
| Name: | Lizzie Tong |
| Graduating High School Year | 2016 |
| Major in College | Economics and Computer Science |
| Current School/ Company | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |
| Current Position | Junior in college |
| Current State | North Carolina |
| Comments | The Milwaukee Chinese Community should recognize itself as a force for political change and represent itself as a united voice for Asian-Americans within the city. |
Sussex Hamilton High School (1)
| Name: | Peggy Wang |
| Graduating High School Year | 2016 |
| Major in College | Computer Science |
| Current School/ Company | Stanford University |
| Current Position | Sophomore in college |
| Current State | California |
| Comments | Just do with you enjoy, even if it means not following the crowd, and everything will work out. |
University School of Milwaukee (1)
| Name: | Bill Wong |
| Graduating High School Year | 2013 |
| Major in College | Bio-psychology |
| Current School/ Company | Medical College of Wisconsin |
| Current Position | Medical Student |
| Current State | Wisconsin |
| Comments | Hello to everyone! Hope you are all well! |
Waukesha South High School (1)
| Name: | Michael Tang |
| Graduating High School Year | 2018 |
| Major in College | Economics |
| Current School/ Company | University of Wisconsin – Madison |
| Current Position | Freshman in college |
| Current State | Wisconsin |
| Comments | I’m thankful for everything that my parents have done for me!! |
Wauwatosa East High School (1)
| Name: | Xiaoling Zhu |
| Graduating High School Year | 2002 |
| Major in College | Electrical engineering |
| Current School/ Company | Elenion technologies, LLC |
| Current Position | Senior photogenic test engineer |
| Current State | New York |
| Comments | In addition to doing well in school it is essential to be financially literate. You would be surprised by how many graduates and young professionals miss this part of their education. Some of the books that change my outlook are: Rich Dad Poor Dad; Your money or your life; Snowball (Warren buffet biography); Zero to one (nature of startups); Who moved my cheese. Finally, one guarantee way to increase happiness – take care of your teeth! Floss first before brushing. |
Wauwatosa West High School (1)
| Name: | Andrew Li |
| Graduating High School Year | 1994 |
| Major in College | Electrical Engineering |
| Current School/ Company | Arista Networks (Santa Clara, CA) |
| Current Position | Software Engineer |
| Current State | California |
| Comments | When I graduated from Wauwatosa West High School 24 years ago, MCCC was not yet founded. It’s great to see the plethora of organizations and programs under MCCC today! Keep up the good work! |
Wayland Academy (1)
| Name: | Jason Jiang |
| Graduating High School Year | 2014 |
| Major in College | Agricultural Business Management |
| Current School/ Company | University of Wisconsin – Madison |
| Current Position | Senior in college |
| Current State | Wisconsin |
| Comments | There is no linear blueprint to success. There is no one-size fits methodology. Life is about what you want. Not others. It’s about crafting your own unique, personal story. Follow your heart and intuition and it will always land you in the right place. Deep down, you truly know who it is you want to be. Strive for that. And if it ever changes, change the sails & strive for that. Most importantly, remember to keep faith in adversity. The universe is constantly testing us. When things fall south, you must have faith that the universe is granting you an opportunity more ideal for your personal journey. You just need to remember to keep faith no matter how hard it will be. |
Whitefish Bay High School (2)
| Name: | Jane Zhang | Frank Zhang |
| Graduating High School Year | 2009 | 2014 |
| Major in College | Finance, Management | Real Estate Development |
| Current School/ Company | Wells Fargo | Vium Inc. |
| Current Position | Corporate Strategy | Marketing |
| Current State | California | California |
| Comments | Be thankful for all that you have in your life each and everyday (small things like a sunrise or big things like acceptance into college). Don’t spend your time comparing with others or let other determine your self worth. Spend time with your family and friends and make memories you will remember. | Don’t be afraid to take a leap of faith. Go somewhere you have always wanted to go or somewhere that will challenge you. If you see more opportunities in one city or school versus the next, go there. I decided to go to California because I thought there would be more opportunities there and I was right. There is so much going on here and I get to meet a lot of amazing people, from start up CEOs and corporate executives to musicians and artists. Follow your instinct, not just what other people tell you or what society tells you to do. And when you’re off to college, don’t forget to thank and call your family constantly. They got you where you are and they’ll be there for you for the next leg of your journey. |
Picture resource: provided by Emily Wang and from internet
Contact Youth section editor at wangemily43@gmail.com
