Am I a “Mei Piao”? | 30 Years Ago, I Set Out Alone to Study in the U.S.

Thirty years ago, I came to the United States alone to pursue my studies. Does that make me a “Mei Piao” (a Chinese drifter in America)?

When I first arrived, even though I had a decent TOEFL score, I couldn’t understand a word in class. I had to rely on borrowing notes from classmates just to make it through each day.

I went to class during the day and worked at a Chinese restaurant at night. That’s how I survived the most difficult first year. Eventually, luck turned in my favor—I got a job at the school library and later became a teaching assistant. Two years later, I earned my master’s degree in accounting from the business school.

Back then, Chinese international students had two main paths to employment: computer science or accounting. I chose the latter.

My first job after graduation was as a temp, scanning documents in the accounting department of a construction company. Honestly, the job didn’t require more than a high school diploma, but I did it wholeheartedly—because it felt like the closest I had come to doing “real accounting.”

A month later, I joined a small accounting firm, where I was finally exposed to audit, bookkeeping, and tax work. I worked long hours—especially during the busy tax season from January to April, often clocking in more than 60 hours a week. Two years later, I transitioned to a large publicly traded company, where the pace was much slower—so slow, in fact, that I found myself a bit bored.

Throughout those years, my immigration status was a constant weight on my mind. From student visa to OPT, and then to the company-sponsored H1B work visa—every step felt precarious. It wasn’t until eight and a half years later, when I finally received my green card through my husband’s company, that I could truly breathe a sigh of relief.

Looking back on my first decade in America, the journey wasn’t all that different from those who “drift” in big cities like Beijing, Shanghai, or Guangzhou—leaving home to chase opportunities far from where we began.

In the future, I’ll be sharing more stories about how I started my clothing brand. Along this path, one thing I’ve come to believe deeply is:

There is no standard answer in life. Once you make a choice, don’t look back. Walk forward with purpose, and you’ll eventually carve out a path that’s uniquely your own.

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