Students of YL Series: Cici Wang

Over 9,000 lights illuminate the bustling Chinese province of Hong Kong as its  7 million inhabitants bustle and make haste into the city late at night. The vibrant nightlife and the overall hardworking culture of China is something Cici Wang, an exchange student at Yorba Linda High School, grew up around. The pressure this intense lifestyle put on China’s younger generations to succeed is something that will later inspire Cici to pursue her passion in a field that she hopes will change the way the older generation in China interprets the growing issue of mental health. 

Cici Wang lived in Hong Kong for fifteen years before her parents encouraged her to continue her education in America. They believed that America’s education system was better than that in Hong Kong after having lived in the states with Cici and her younger sister for a few months, they knew it was the best place for Cici to continue her education. Before her parents brought introduced the idea of studying in America, Cici’s interest in mental health had peaked. As she grew older and school became harder, she saw and felt the pressure she and her peers were feeling. She also saw how her elders refused to believe the toll school was taking on her and her peer’s mental health. She shares in an interview how “They think that sick people can not adjust their mood or have mental health problems, Simply put, they don’t think psychological problems are problems that need extra help.”

She continues how “What they say is always hurtful. Whenever they discuss this together and I listen to it and feel very sad and powerless for the person being discussed.” So when her parents proposed the idea of studying in America, Cici was ecstatic. She was aware of the way people prioritized mental health in America and saw it as something that needed to be fixed. She knew she wanted to bring back this progressive mentality about mental health to the older generation in China. And when she arrived at Yorba Linda High School, she immediately knew she would thrive. Right off the bat, she noticed the significant cultural differences between the U.S.A. and China. She talks about how “Almost everyone in China is just thinking about themselves. Some of them are stingy with praise and giving. Americans don’t do this.” It was this significant culture change that confirmed her decision to pursue a career in psychiatry. She shares how she wants to “…study in a medical school in the United States. Maybe somewhere on the east coast, Johns Hopkins would be amazing.” Cici Wang has big dreams, and I know with her drive and motivation she will achieve everything she was born to achieve.