TaoTao Tan started a new educational path when he came to Central Connecticut as an international student at age 19. Coming from China, Tan had never been to the United States, but was ready for the new academic opportunities that awaited him.

Tan, now a senior, is majoring in biology, hoping to do something with research after graduation. Tan says he has been at Central for about a year and three months.

“There was a program at my high school and they [sponsored] me with a full scholarship to come here. I applied and I got it,” Tan said. “You have to study in China for two years and then come here for another two years.”

Tan said that education is different in China. Students there only have three years of high school, which may sound easier, but Tan said in reality, it’s not.

“You study a lot in high school. We have a college entrance examination. It is more challenging and more competitive. Some of the first-year courses here I have studied in high school,” Tan said. “But for college in China, students here kind of relax because they study so much in high school.”

In high school, students repeat everything. Tan says that’s why students want to relax more in college.

“You just repeating everything. Then you have the final senior year and you have to repeat all the stuff you learned in high school and then try to pass that exam,” Tan said.

In China, Tan said students don’t have much freedom to choose their major, unlike the system in America. The exam determines what college a student can get into based on their grades.

“To get the popular majors, you will have to get a higher grade, like economics and computer science,” Tan stated.

The transition to come to Central was a positive one for Tan’s family, with him remembering that his family and friends were “proud” of him.

Tan, with the support of family and friends to back him up on his new path, had to get used to a new culture. Being an only child with an upbeat character, Tan smiled and laughed when he recalled how weird it felt to hear that people in America can have so many siblings.

“You can have two kids in China, but they don’t want you having three. In my generation, many of my friends are the only children of the family. It is weird for me [hearing how people have many siblings] because my roommate had like ten siblings and that’s not so common in China,” Tan said.

Adapting to a new culture was difficult at first, but learning better English was just another challenge for Tan to overcome.

“It took me about one semester to learn. I knew some of it, but it wasn’t so good. I studied English [and] we have an English class, but they will never teach you how to say regular words. They said, ‘What’s up?’ and I didn’t know what that word meant. I thought that was a bad word,” Tan joked.

Tan was excited to transition to Central, but it, of course, came with nerves because it “was a new place.” Tan has only lived in the U.S. besides China, so the move has been a new, exhilarating journey for him.