Interview with NCU Student

By Carol Massahos

A Chinese accountant is currently a student in the graduate co-op work-study program at Northwest Christian University in Eugene, Oregon.  She was born in Chongchun, China with no sisters or brothers.  Her father is an engineer with China Mobile and her mother is retired from working as a governmental hospital accountant. Sharing her mother’s interest in accounting, she already earned an MBA degree before coming to the US. 

She has lived in Beijing since the third year of her of undergraduate degree program. Upon arrival in the US, she noticed that Eugene is such a small town, with no big buildings.  She observed, “Eugene closes down at night, while the big city of Beijing goes all night every night.”  Her parents wanted her to choose a smaller town that would be safer than a big city.  Her safety was her parents’ major concern when she decided to further her education in the US.

She explains that, in China, a child is thought of as “a pearl in the hand” to their parents.  When she was growing up, her mother didn’t want her to do household chores or to worry about anything but her studies.  Her mother said she was her investment in the future.  She lived a privileged life at home, but in the US that status does not matter.  She has learned how to cook while living in Eugene, and since her roommate loves her cooking, she feels she is doing pretty well with it.  Back home, her father does most of the cooking.

Even though the coursework is demanding, she likes school.  She said that some professors are very helpful, and others make no effort to give her any extra attention just because she is an international student.

 She initially lived with a Eugene family that had a little child, which was a new experience for her.  She likes music and sports, especially tennis. She has taken trips to Reno and Hood River, and hopes to be able to ride a horse on the beach sometime this summer.  As an international student, making friends is difficult.  Local people seem naïve and shy about initiating relationships with international students.

 She is working on becoming a Certified Public Accountant so she can work for an American company in China.

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