Can a Summer Program Turn a Beijing Tween Into a New Yorker?

Summer is a time of adventure, relaxation, and new experiences. In this series, we asked our readers to share their summer stories. From exciting travels to peaceful moments at home, from learning new skills to forging precious memories with loved ones, every tale is a window into the diverse and wonderful ways people spent their summers.

Let’s find out what 12-year-old Margaret Yang from Beijing City International School did (aside from interning with us at jingkids).

The US East Coast has always been where I wanted to visit ever since I started following vloggers based in New York, and the fact that my travels for the past four years were all in China made my desire for a trip to the East Coast even stronger. After my parents informed me that I was admitted to the University of Pennsylvania’s elite summer program and would also be touring New York City before, and Washington D.C. and Boston after the program, I was elated. When Aug 1 arrived and my 6am alarm buzzed, I headed to the airport with maximum enthusiasm.

New York was a completely different vibe from what I experienced on the West Coast. Everyone on the streets seemed very focused on what they were doing, and I, of course, did my best to blend in, other than the fact that instead of working hard, my job was to play hard. The first day was filled with all the touristy activities: taking pictures with the Wall Street Bull, going on the ferry to sightsee at the Statue of Liberty and the Brooklyn Bridge, ascending the New World Trade Center… I also got to tour the home of one of the world’s best business schools: New York University, aka NYU.

Because NYU doesn’t have a campus, I asked the student who guided my tour what student life was like. She said that it was a typical New Yorker life, as going to class was like work and everything else, even taking the subway, even though it could be terrifying. As I had already fallen in love with the vibes of Manhattan, NYU was pretty attractive.

The second day started off with a tour of Columbia University, and one thing was stuck in my mind forever about one name, Brigham, that was carved on top of the library building on campus. Carl Brigham was the founder of the SAT, a standardized test that all students applying to American universities will have to take. The student of Columbia who guided the tour said that this name receives a lot of hate on campus but definitely acts as a source of motivation for hard work for students. One thing that I loved about Columbia’s campus was that there was this statue that can spin that sits beside the Columbia School of Law’s building, and it is called The Tooth. The statue weighs 842 pounds and I am proud to announce that I made it spin by pushing it all by myself! Right beside Columbia’s campus was a fast food chain that I was longing to try: Shake Shack. I got the Shroom Burger with the crinkle-cut fries and the burger was delectable. The cheese that pools inside of the fried mushroom patty made it an incredible experience.

After lunch, I made my way to the place I had been dreaming of visiting: Times Square. The billboards were exactly how I imagined – vibrant, dynamic, and lively. I saw a lot of my favorite celebrities – Simone Biles and Gisele Bündchen – on the billboards and even envisioned myself being on one of them because there was actually a board area reserved for tourists to put their selfies on, but I didn’t do that because I had to make time for the next location of my journey, which was the Met Museum.

Before I went to New York I did some research on Chinese artifacts there and one of the most famous ones was the Medicine Buddha’s Changes painting. More details of the work’s arrival at the museum and its artistic details can be found elsewhere, but all I can say about it is that history can be hard to comprehend thoroughly from different aspects and stances, however, modern society is the way it is for a reason, and all we need to do now is to respect what has happened. After visiting the Met and getting a bit emotional, I headed to Central Park, where I was on the swing for ten minutes straight because it was so fun. I had to leave, unfortunately, due to a shower of rain, which delayed my travels by 20 minutes, but experiencing the weather was, again, part of the authentic New York experience (I am hyperaware that I sound like someone madly in love with New York but that’s because I am).

The third day started off in New Jersey, with a tour of Princeton University. The cool part of the tour was that I got to sit on one of the tigers in front of Nassau Hall and that I got to play ping pong in one of the buildings. After the tour, I was on the bus to Philadelphia. When I arrived, I also made time to tour Independence Place and the Liberty Bell, and after that, it was time for the potential highlight of my entire trip: Walmart shopping. Yes, that was on my list of things to do in Philadelphia. I have been to my local Walmart numerous times before it closed, but the experience I had in Philadelphia was completely different. Maybe it was because of the placement of the products, or maybe it was because of the lively atmosphere, but the experience made me realize how little I was experiencing in this world and how much more I am missing out on. Later in the afternoon, I arrived at Penn and got myself ready for the upcoming days of learning.

Learning at Penn was incredibly different to how I was learning at school: The teachers explained concepts and examples in so much more detail and made learning so much more engaging and fun. I made so many new friends throughout the camp experience who shared the same interests and passion as me, which made me feel more included and confident in the environment I was being put into, which I think was an important factor in the success of my studies during the summer camp.

After the camp, the next stop on my trip was Washington D.C., and I visited Capitol Hill, the Lincoln Memorial, the Thomas Jefferson Memorial, and the George Washington Monument. Those were places that were on my list of visits as well, and seeing them in real life and combining them with what I learned about American history and how these remarkable political leaders helped shape the governmental systems and the way America is nowadays allowed me to comprehend the information I learned better. The dish I ate for lunch that day was also related to an important event in American history, the Vietnam War. A lot of the refugees of the Vietnam War settled in the States and a lot of them in D.C., so there are a lot of Vietnamese restaurants in D.C. that were also very authentic, which I believe is true as the pho I ate that day was very flavorful.

After my trip to D.C., I then flew to Boston, which was the last stop of my journey.

In the morning, I toured Harvard University. Although a lot of Harvard’s buildings are outside of campus, such as the medical school buildings and the business school buildings, the calm and relieving atmosphere created by the bricks of the buildings and the nature scene all around campus was already a very pleasant experience.

In the afternoon, I headed to MIT for a tour there. Surprisingly, even though MIT is a school that is known for its superior achievements in the sciences, the buildings on campus were filled with an artistic feel.

The sculptures, colors, and designs that can be seen around campus almost made me think that I was in an art school, but the way MIT names their classrooms brought me back to reality. In every building, they simply call each classroom by Arabic numerals. This made me realize how simple but creative life could be, by making the necessary minimal and enjoying the simple joys that bring maximum gratefulness. The view of the Charles River and Boston seen from behind the main building of the MIT campus was breathtaking, and as a person who has always been terrified of bugs and unknown species found in grass, I somehow managed to do a cartwheel in the grass.

MIT was the last university I toured on my trip and the last official stop of my journey was at Quincy Market. Quincy Market was filled with delicious chocolate chip cookies (yes I have a sugar allergy, but they were absolutely irresistible so I ate them and took allergy medicine afterward, don’t worry), creamy lobster rolls that I, of course, needed to try when in New England, and delicate hand-made jewelry that is a perfect finishing touch to any outfit. I ended my journey with a satisfying meal at Outback Steakhouse and was on my way to the airport when I was greeted by perhaps the most stunning sunset I have ever seen in my entire life.

That was the end of my trip to the East Coast this year, filled to the brim with blissful memories to last forever.