By: Amy Xiang
Ever since she was young, ACLP Website Manager Bing Liang has been a fan of watching Korean dramas. This summer, while in quarantine, Bing’s “K-drama fever” has flared back up, as she enjoys watching shows for the plot and romance.
She is also a self-described “foodie,” who, after lots of deliberation, shares that her favorite food is any and all kinds of soup.
Bing was born in East Harlem, New York, but she spent a few years of her childhood living in China with some family before returning to New York, where she has lived ever since.
“My parents are immigrants and they never went to college, so I think that has made me someone who realizes the significance of working hard and owning up to the responsibility to care after my family,” Bing said.
Because she attended very small schools growing up, Bing knew she wanted a similar close-knit community in college. It is for this reason that Penn, with its fairly large student body, wasn’t originally on Bing’s radar. However, attending an open house changed her mind.
“During the open house, I realized that, despite the large size of the school, there was a strong first-generation community here and there's a lot of support for students of my background,” Bing said.
Bing is a College senior majoring in cognitive science. On campus, she is part of the Hacking & Learning Committee for Penn Computer Science Society, as well as a community service fraternity called Alpha Phi Omega.
In addition to her passion for computer science, Bing also loves to draw and is interested in exploring design-related fields. The website developer role at ACLP immediately caught her eye, as it would allow her to explore both website development and graphic design.
Above all, however, it was the mission of the ACLP that drew her to the position since she knows firsthand how important it is for underrepresented students to get the support they are looking for, especially if resources from their school and family are limited.
To those students, Bing says, “Know that you're not alone in all of this. Sometimes things might seem super daunting and the idea of college might not seem super real at times, but we’re here to listen and share your stories,” adding that she hopes our ACLP scholars will become role models for future generations of students as well.