Lavender Tian, Accepted into Aerospace Engineering Program

My name is Lavender Tian. I’m from Yangzhou, China, near Shanghai. I’m a 12^th grader at Kennedy Catholic High School. I joined ASG in Spring of 2016. I attended Greenville High School for 1 semester as a 10^th grader before transferring to Kennedy to continue my education.

I’m the ASG student government treasurer and I play violin for the ASG music club. I also founded the ASG Chinese Society and am the president.

I knew I wanted to study abroad from a young age. I chose to study in American because America has the best schools and education system. I really like the American education system because we have a lot of choice and flexibility. We can choose our classes and we have more free time to do after-school activities, things we love.

I have gained a lot from the education system here. For example, in China, we have more than 50 people in a class, and we would have the same classmates all throughout high school. In America, we have 15-20 people in a class and we are constantly rotating classes with different classmates. This way, we all get to know each other in the school and it feels like a family. It also helps me experience and learn about American culture through meeting so many people and making lots of friends. That is what I have enjoyed most about my time in high school.

I got accepted to Case Western Reserve University, University of California Davis, University of Iowa, University of Minnesota, University of Oregon, and University Colorado at Boulder. I’m going to attend the University of Colorado at Boulder because I got accepted into the Aerospace Engineering program, the 11th best program in the U.S!

Aerospace Engineering. I have always dreamed of being in this field ever since I saw the launch of China’s first manned-rocket launch in 2003, when I was 3 years old.  I was very young, but I never forgot the experience. I felt so proud of my country and have always been determined to help develop China’s future space industry.

The most difficult part was writing the personal statements because you have to put your own personality and thinking into your writing to differentiate yourself. I’m thankful for my advisors, Ben and Dr. Stump, for guiding me throughout the process.

I would say take resume-building very and advising seriously! I still remember trying to do my first university profile sheet in 11th grade and thought, “why do I have to do this?”. I thought I was being punished. But looking back, I’m so glad I did the assignments because the advising process helped me prepare for my entire application process. Before even beginning, I already had solid goals and plans.

You also want to focus on picking your major. Don’t just be concerned with the ranking of a school because you have to really know what you are interested in studying. Once you know this, it helps motivate you to apply. You should also be aware of things like the weather and location because it can affect where you even want to attend. These are all reasons why I chose to attend University of Colorado over Case Western University. Case did not have an aerospace engineering program and I knew it would be too cold for me.

Firstly, my mother and father for always encouraging me and being a great parent. They gave me all the opportunities I’ve had.

My houseparent, Liz, for taking care of me, and helping me grow as a young woman all me all these years at ASG. She has become like a second mom to me!

My advisor, Ben, for guiding and supporting me throughout my journey in school.

My friend, Sophia Xu, who was a great support system for me when I got too stressed.