Although having to overcome growing up in a underprivileged area and having trouble fitting in, she sprouted into a very outgoing, happy, and intelligent author that has impacted and influenced many people. Even with limited resources and a strict mother, Gish Jen found her passion in writing from a young age, choosing to pursue her dream at Harvard and Stanford. This hard work has paid off as she went to some of the best colleges, had very hard jobs to maintain, and made a living for her and her family.
In addition, the accomplishments she has earned has given her the platform she needed to influence her readers and convey her message of Chinese Immigrants in the United States. Gish Jen was overall a very well-rounded person who had that special something to connect to readers along with influencing others. Her story of being born from two Chinese immigrants and being raised in a bad part of town was the start of her career as a decorated author.
Even with living in a low class area and a pushy mom, Jen found her passion in writing from a young age, choosing to pursue her dream of writing and publishing books. Although growing up in a rough part of the country at times, only having ‘A library that only contained a single shelf of books'(Ho 1), Jen still found a way to put herself on a path for success educationally. (Ho 1) After the first week of her second year at Stanford is when Jen started to lose motivation, missing all of her classes due to her oversleeping and then shortly after that, took a leave of absence from the university.
Her mom was very disappointed in her and did not talk to her for a whole year, cutting her off emotionally and financially (Lee). Starting with her friends giving her a nickname of Jen, she slowly started to fall in the love with the idea that you could ‘rename and remake yourself into an identity that you choose versus one bestowed on you from birth’ (Ho 2), this is a recurring theme in her work (Ho 2). All of Jen’s perseverance for success guided her through her early life and set herself up for success.
Gish Jen lived up to her expectations as she went to one of if not the hardest school in the country to follow her passion, writing. She loved Harvard, and then went to further her writing career at Stanford, even though it didn’t work out. Born into a family that has expectations such as going to an ‘Ivy League college’ (Lee), Gish Jen had big shoes to fill. She was a very hard worker which paid off for her husband, David O’Connor, and her two kids, one boy one girl. As a kid, Gish Jen ‘remembers herself as being a shy and withdrawn'(Lee) she has grown into a very bright, positive, funny, and outgoing person. With all of her character and work ethic, Gish Jen has had a successful later life with many accomplishments and influences. Gish Jen has had many accomplishments and influence on others throughout her writing in her life.
Gish Jen’s constant drive to get better at writing and her passion for it has paved the way for her to become a “very successful writer” (Lee), earning herself many awards throughout the years she has been writing. Gish Jen’s accomplishments give her the opportunity to spread her messages and what she believes in. She has shared her ideas on many platforms, ‘some of which have been published in such esteemed national media venues’ (Ho 99). After a long waiting period, here came that ‘wonderful moment’ (Lee), she started working at Radcliffe’s Bunting Institute’ (Lee), and shortly after turned down a job offered to her at a Dean office.
Jen’s accomplishments have given her the opportunity to share her ideas and make her the person she is today. Gish Jen was overall a very well rounded person who had that special something to connect to readers along with influencing others. The two factors that influenced Jen’s work was her Chinese origins, shaping her by having to overcome diversity issues, then the second one was her growing up with very poor educational resources and little odds to succeed. The research process has benefited me by teaching me how to grab information from a source and put it into paper ready writing, along with preparing in advance so the draft is very easy because I already wrote it in bits and pieces. The whole project was a huge step forward in writing papers and doing research. All in all, Gish Jen has had a very accomplished life and should be proud of her determination and hard work she has put in her whole entire life.
Gish Jen Has A Passion For Writing From a Young Age. (2022, Dec 15). Retrieved from https://paperap.com/gish-jen-has-a-passion-for-writing-from-a-young-age/