It’s nice when two threads of my life weave back together.
I was recently interviewed for a story published by Foreign Policy magazine. The author of the piece wanted to know a little bit about how the profile of Chinese students on American college campuses has changed over the years. As it happens, I wrote a paper in graduate school for comparative politics course about that subject. Chinese students at the time were arriving on America’s campuses in the wake of the 1989 Tiananmen Square incident. Many of these students had come to this country with very little. And Chinese students in previous generations, too, had come to the United States. In hopes of making a better life for themselves. Many of them stayed. Many still live here.
But today’s Chinese students on America’s campuses are quite different. As the title suggests, “China’s Nouveau Riche Have Landed on American Campuses.” Chinese students today have money to burn. Drive fancy cars, go to exclusive nightclubs, and generally find ways to enjoy their lives on American campuses. Many are also serious students. But their reasons for coming to United States and their goals after they finish their education are much different than they were in the 1990s and prior.
I was happy to be quoted in this story. It’s part of a series on Chinese students in America, and I recommend the entire series.
Mark Montgomery
Educational Consultant
