The night Justin Liu stepped onto the Foggy Bottom campus of George Washington University as a first-year student should have been the culmination of a dream.
It was the next chapter in a story that began when his parents immigrated from China—leaving behind a stable life and business, along with the grandparents who helped raise Liu as a young child. Liu was just 8 when his world was uprooted. Landing in Southern California, he lived through years of shifting addresses. At school, he often felt isolated. At home, he grew up quickly, helping his parents navigate a new language and culture.
Now, all the sacrifices and struggles were about to pay off. As the first person in his family to attend an American university, his goals—his whole family’s goals—were finally within reach. But when he arrived at GW, Liu’s only thoughts were: “I don’t belong here. I want to go home.”