Many Chinese students are realizing that studying abroad is better because the learning experience is fuller, and is true for Emily Chen who is now a foreign student in the U.S.
Her father, Herald Chen, sent her to Grier School, an international boarding school because he noticed that she was not enthusiastic about going to school in China.
"I used to hate school and homework in China," said Emily. "But here at Grier I have all these fond memories about learning and motivation and have benefited much from interacting with peers from all over the world."
Herald Chen is a researcher for cancer and did not regret sending Emily to the boarding school.
He said, "I'm not positive that she would have been admitted to the same U.S. universities if she received her education in China."
Before deciding on sending Emily to the U.S., Herald admitted that Emily had to struggle from school to school. Her mom would push her to study harder but to no avail.
Harold said, "I still can't forget the nightmarish years when we had to shuffle Emily back and forth between school and after-school training institutions. My wife kept pushing Emily to study harder and would lose her temper at her progress. None of us were happy."
Emily explained that studying abroad made her gain self-confidence because she became self-reliant in the U.S.
"My experiences at the school led me to take leaps of faith in myself and encourage me to believe I could make great things happen," she said.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security reported that Chinese K-12 students totaled to 34,578 this year. This is half of the entire foreign student population in America.
"We feel that sending young children to U.S. boarding schools will continue. The increase shows no sign of abating in the near future due to the sheer size of China's population and the rise of a wealthy class," said Eva Liu, a marketing professional at Silicon Valley.