From Harbin to Boston
By Estefania Souza
BOSTON—A petite girl with onyx-black hair and eyes that could make anyone doubt her Asian nationality sits cross-legged on a futon, just as any other college sophomore would. Deedee Sun can’t help laughing when she tells the story about her elementary school in Ilinois. “Everyone had sleeping bags… [and] I had a blanket,” she says. “Someone asked why, and I was so frustrated that I couldn’t explain.”
But it didn’t take Deedee long to adapt to life in the United States. After elementary school in Decatur, Illinois, and high-school in the prestigious Mathematics and Science Academy, Deedee seems more like she’s from the Windy City, than from China.
Yuchen “Deedee” Sun was born in Harbin, China. As an only child, she explains that while her mother grew up with a privileged family in Harbin, her father was from the country province of Jilin.
“The original plan was to have me in the United States,” she says. But the Cultural Revolution in China impeded her mom from leaving the country and because of that, Deedee was born there instead. Just three months after, Deedee’s mom unexpectedly got the opportunity to study at Lawrence University in Wisconsin and took it. So her mom immigrated to the U.S. while Deedee and her father moved to the countryside. In little time, Deedee’s dad got a spouse visa and joined his wife in the U.S., leaving Deedee under the care of her grandparents.
“We tried to apply for a visa for me… right after my dad left, but it took many years for my visa to get approved,” she says. It wasn’t until she was 5 that Deedee was able to join her parents in the U.S.
“My parents definitely had to sacrifice a lot coming to the United States,” she says. While her mom attended graduate school, her dad waited tables to support the family. Deedee explains that immediately after graduating, her mom began working with Metlife in order to keep her visa. “My mom had to get a job that’s not really what she was interested in at all,” Deedee says, acknowledging her mother’s efforts to stay in the U.S.
When asked if she remembered any specific struggles, Deedee doesn’t seem to remember too much. “I remember we lived in this small apartment… but I was little then. I didn’t notice much if money was tight or anything like that.” By the time she was “a pre-teen and things started to matter,” her dad had moved on from his job as a waiter and money was less of an issue.
Nowadays, Deedee Sun is a rising sophomore at Boston University working towards a double major in broadcast journalism and economics. B.U. is a very diverse school, with students from all over the world, but that doesn’t bother Deedee at all. In her opinion, student visas should be easy to attain.
“Why would you want to prevent spreading knowledge?” she says. “It makes sense for people from other countries to come here.”
What doesn’t make sense to her is the issue regarding illegal immigrants. “I’m not fully versed on this subject,” she admits. But she says there is no reason for American citizens to have to pay the insurance of those who illegally enter the U.S. Deedee claims that it is unfair for illegal immigrants to be treated medically when they are not paying anything back. Unlike in China, where medical assistance won’t be given to you unless you have personal insurance, in the U.S., all patients are treated in emergency rooms.
She explains that there is a difference between handing out student visas and simply making it easier for illegal immigrants to stay in the country. “My parents definitely had to sacrifice a lot [to become American citizens], she says. From Deedee’s perspective, immigrants should be allowed to stay in the country as long as they follow the law and work for their citizenship.
Amidst a student body with more than 20% international students, Deedee is no longer the one that stands out because of her nationality. But she has not forgotten her heritage and realizes that the issue of immigration is complicated. She says she doesn’t have enough knowledge to answer it in depth. But she poses an important question, “Where do you draw the line?”
Here is a map illustrating Deedee's immigration:
View Deedee in a larger map
Deedee Sun is an active reporter for Inside Boston. She spends time creating and editing stories for BUTV, BU's student-run news channel.
Click here for more of Deedee's videos.
