ALUMNI
Alumni Focus H o w di d s t u d y in g c hin e s e i mp ac t y o u r l if e a n d / o r w o r l d v ie w ?
Erica Gray ’12
“Studying Chinese has given me opportunities to develop and nurture an adventurous spirit, and has allowed me to learn from others in a more understanding, open, and compassionate way.” “My class was the very first to be offered Chinese at Ensworth (7th grade in 2006!). After that, I took Chinese every year until I graduated. In college, I took Chinese every semester (I majored in East Asian Studies with a concentration in Chinese), and spent my summers interning in Shanghai. After I graduated, I moved to China where I did some work in education consulting before switching to working for a stem cell research company. After three years there, I moved back to the U.S. to start law school at Notre Dame.”
Sara Pickrell ’20
“By studying another country, especially one whose recent (and historic) relations with the United States have been relatively fraught with tension, from the perspective of the other country, I have learned to recognize biases growing up in the United States has given me, and evaluate both China and the US from a more neutral standpoint. Additionally, language and culture are intertwined and by learning Mandarin, I am better able to understand the history and culture of China. This further enables me to look at other countries, the world, and the United States from a more all-encompassing and compassionate view.”
12 | ENSWORTH ENSIGHTS
