College of Science & Engineering Alumni Newsletter
Fall
2000
The Road to Assimilation
Mary
Cheng (BS ’87, Computer Science) was born in China and grew
up in Taiwan. In late 1970’s, many of her relatives had immigrated to the
United States and Canada. In order to stay closer to her parents, Mary
and her husband Joseph, with an adventurous mind, decided to join the migration
in 1977.
Before
immigration, she had obtained her master degree in Western Comparative
Literatures from Tamkang University and worked as an instructor there.
After she came to San Francisco, she worked at Chinese Newcomers Services,
a social service organization in Chinatown, helping new immigrants while
she herself was just one among them. With the training in apprehending
literatures, she was sensitive to other people’s feeling and usually had
better understanding of the hardships that new immigrants confronted. Their
road to assimilation was not and is not an easy one. For Mary and Joseph,
the first couple years in the United States were not only a time to adjust
to the new environment, but also to survive and to find a better life.
After
their second child was born, they both agreed that it would be more beneficial
to all of them if Mary could spend more time with the children. Therefore,
she chose to stay home. At the same time, she tried to prepare herself
for the future. Time and money were the limiting factors, so it was kind
of luxurious to think about going back to school to get another degree.
Nevertheless, Mary applied to U.C. Berkeley and San Francisco State University.
U.C. Berkeley did not accept applicants pursuing a second undergraduate
degree. However, San Francisco State accepted her in the Computer Science
Department. Mary was very glad to have the opportunity to be a student
again. Most importantly, it was the right school for her. The campus was
not too big so she did not feel lost. Her classmates were friendly
and helpful. The class size was small, and students respected their professors.
It has been a while since she graduated, but all these years she always
grateful for the fact that SFSU opened its door for her to pursue a different
interest in her career.
Mary
got a job in the Alameda Naval Air Station right after her graduation.
As soon as she settled down, Joseph was thinking about his turn to fulfill
his dream. During that same year, Joseph started his own small businesses.
Taking advantage of being bilingual, he began with international trading.
Besides trading, Joseph utilized his past work experiences to start warehousing
and transportation operations. For several years, he struggled and managed
all three businesses by himself. Seven years ago, the Alameda Naval Air
Base announced that it would close down. Even though Mary enjoyed her programming
job very much and won various awards there, she had to resign. Meanwhile
Joseph’s businesses needed more assistance. He was more than happy to have
Mary work together with him. They have been enjoying being partners in
managing their successful businesses.
As
they are approaching the ‘over the hill’ age, they cannot help but to think
about what they have accomplished in the past and what they are going to
do to leave behind in the future. They are thankful to their parents’ effort
and support that lead them to the right tracks. They appreciate society
for giving them the opportunity to prosper. Their two children are grown
up and on their own now. Jennifer is studying at UCSF; and Vincent is at
UC Irvine. It was the right time to explore other meaningful things for
them. Last year, Mary read from the past issue of the College of Science
& Engineering Alumni newsletter about Dr.
& Mrs. Kenneth Fong and their $10,000 scholarship donation. The
article inspired her to set up one scholarship endowment in memory of her
father, Mr. C.Y.
Chow. Her father was the principal of the elementary school she attended.
He taught German in the university in Taiwan before he went to Canada to
retire. Mary’s impression of her father was that he always read whenever
he had time, and he read with enjoyment. She believes that it is appropriate
to remember her father by setting up an educational investment.