Fly Through a TRIP of My Life by Niki Wang

​Hi everyone! My name is Niki Wang and I’m currently a freshman at William Tennent. Throughout my childhood, I’ve moved to numerous places before settling in Warminster, Pennsylvania. I’ve lived in North Carolina, Virginia, New York, and a year or so in China. I don’t have many memories of when I lived in China since I was only two, but the lingering memories still draw me to my parents’ home country.

In school, I am the president of the 9th Grade Class in Student Government, a member of Key Club, Athletic Council, and the Spanish Club (also known as Aqui Para Ti Club). In the Student Government and Athletic Council, other members and I are able to identify problems in our school and seek reforms, allowing students to make an impact. In Key Club, we organize events and hold fundraisers for school events or even for a blood drive. Now, with the Spanish Club, even though I don’t speak Spanish and am not of hispanic descent, I chose to join this out of my curiosity of the hispanic culture. This club is specifically made for hispanic students who struggle with English, but it welcomes many others to make a diverse community. As you can see, all of these extracurricular activities connect me with others, either in school or outside, and really allow me to influence many individuals - either a student, an athlete, or a patient.

Outside of school, I mostly work, work, and work. My parents own a Chinese and Japanese restaurant called Stone Wok, and I work part-time there every day except Tuesdays (our only day off of the week). There, I’m qualified for many roles. I’m the assistant manager, but when needed, I also do waitressing, cashiering, packing, or hosting. I got this position not just because I was the daughter of the owners, but because I’ve seen how a restaurant operates ever since I was 4 and have 3 years of experience. Now you might be wondering, “How the heck did she observe a restaurant for over 10 years?”. Well, it’s actually not uncommon for many 1st generation children of Chinese immigrants to experience something like this. When our parents immigrated to the United States, they often opened up a restaurant if they had the money, and put a lot - and I mean a lot - of time and energy into the restaurant. This leaves very little time for them to take care of their children, so we either get taken care of by our grandparents, or stay at the restaurant with our parents. In my case, I stayed with my grandparents in China for around a year, and moved back to the U.S. when I was almost 4. It was only a matter of time I did because I had to learn English and get prepared for school in the U.S. As a result, I also got to observe the operation of a restaurant and learn all the responsibilities of each restaurant position.

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Years went on and I started to get increasingly bored since I was very limited to what I could do in elementary school (they barely had any clubs) and parts of middle school because of the pandemic. Once I reached high school though, I was exposed to so many opportunities and activities. I wanted to join all of them and experience the most I could during my high school years (hence, the reason why I have joined 4 clubs). I also fell in love with the STEM field, especially the science aspect of it. My English teacher probably saw my potential and interest, so he introduced me to this amazing program called TRIP. Later that day, I read through the information and realized this program really aligned with my interests. I applied, made it, and am incredibly happy to have made this decision. Yesterday was my only first day of TRIP but I’ve already learned so much. From diluting solutions and micropipetting to making fly food, I loved it all. What I hope to build and learn from TRIP is my knowledge and skill. What I hope to narrow down and identify from TRIP is my career interest. I believe TRIP will help me hugely in those ways and continue to impact me even after this experience is over. Right now I’m itching to go back next week and start hands-on work with fruit flies. In the meantime, I’ll continue observing the fruit flies in the vial I received on the first day of TRIP and complete any assigned work in Schoology!