Lucia's Blog

  American Like Me , edited by America Ferrera   “American Like Me” was an eye-opening read about the nuances of growing up between different cultures in America. Ferrera sets the tone of the book by providing anecdotes of the prejudice she faced growing up, and how she persevered to become an actress who wasn’t boxed into latino stereotypes. After the first post, I was excited to continue reading other prominent figures’ stories. I was surprised to find so many similarities across people of different backgrounds surrouding their experience with their name, food, and school. Many of the authors struggled with their identity and faced judgement with their name, the food they brought to lunch, and simply existing as a non-white person.   One of the stories that stood out to me was from Reshma Saujani who founded Girls Who Code and ran for Congress. I did a Girls Who Code program one summer but had no idea who the founder was and what her story was about. I was horrified to ...

  How to Reach 100 Secrets from the world’s longest-lived people   Last week, I celebrated my 21 st  birthday. All my life I’ve been waiting to experience this rite of passage into adulthood.  Turning 21 means that I can finally use my ID to hit a bar crawl, buy expensive cocktails, or get a pilot’s license if I wanted to. So when the moment came and the bouncer looked at my eager face then down at my REAL ID and back to my face… he handed back my liscense with a “Happy Birthday!” and let me through. Immediately, I felt old.    I never gave aging much thought. But as I sipped on my martini, I couldn’t help but think about the terrible hangover and back pain I was going to wake up with tomorrow. I just turned 21, but how will I make it 100?   Thankfully, Dan helped me answer that question. What started out as a National Geographic expedition on researching longevity led Dan Buettner to discover the Blue Zones: 5 places in the world where people con...

  American Like Me: Reflections on Life Between Cultures, edited by America Ferrera After reading the preface to American Like Me, I was immediately drawn by the embrace of multiculturalism. As a first-generation American myself, the topics covered by writers who all experienced growing up between cultures really resonated with me. At a young age, I struggled with balancing two cultures and embracing being Chinese American. Growing up, this experience wasn't talked about in my family or much in the media. Seeing all these established people from different careers and ethnicities all sharing similar struggles in this collection of stories is both validating and comforting.  So far, I find the book personable and easy to read. America's introduction sets the tone as she explains her struggle justifying her "American" name through anecdotes of her first day of school. I found it interesting to learn about the true origins of her name through small stories she remembers. ...

Real Estate Equity Intern   Imagine investing millions of dollars in a piece of land. Which piece of land would you choose? Over the past summer, I interned as a real estate private equity analyst for a large asset management company. It felt surreal to handle deals on such a large level.    I contributed to the kind of investments a single person normally can not accomplish alone. After a summer of trainings, meetings, and modelings, I learned the different roles of a real estate equity analyst.   A real estate equity analyst helps evaluate potential real estate investments and performs due diligence on prospective assets. They help invest money into commercial real estate and perform valuations to see how long to hold onto the real estate before selling it for a profit. Sometimes, to sell for profit, the company makes changes to the real estate, like renovations, changes in management, or more drastic alterations. As an intern, I performed similar roles to a starti...

Where do I come from? My name is Lucia. I'm from a small town called Westford right outside of Boston, Massachusetts. My parents immigrated to the US from China and studied their Master's degree in Boston before settling down in the suburbs. My favorite part about growing up in Westford was that there was a mini ski resort that everyone would go to after school in the winter.  Where am I going?   After I finish college at USC, I want to spend the summer traveling before starting my job. I will be working in real estate private equity. I hope to spend some time in my twenties living in New York City, but I'm unsure where I will be after that point. How do I plan to get there? I will get there by staying motivated, planning ahead of time, and keeping my network close. How am I like my parents? I am like my mother in that I am aware and sometimes hyper-aware of the small things. She would always notice the tiny details when doing tasks and interacting with people. She could ...