Name: Ying

School: Manhattan Comprehensive Night & Day High School

Graduation: January 2024

Post-graduation plan: I’m applying to CUNY and hope to go to City College, because they have a program in civil engineering.

How CYD helped: Sebastian and Ethan have been helping me with my college applications and essays. I also got advice from the Legal Information Clinic.

How he got here: I came to the US when I was 19. Because of my age, I couldn’t get accepted to any high school. Finally I went to the Department of Education and they told me about this school. When I started going to MCNDHS, I was working four days a week at a bubble tea shop until 11 pm, and then going to school the next day at 8 am. I was so tired. Now I work only on weekends, which is much better. Because I have lived in both Venezuela and China, I speak Spanish, Mandarin, and Cantonese as well as English – and at MCNDHS I can speak all these languages with other students.

Dream: I want to be a civil engineer and build houses. When I lived with my grandparents in China, they bought me Legos, and I always spent my time on that. Then I moved on to Minecraft. I’ve always loved to build things! My goal is to get a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and keep going. Ultimately, I would like to get a doctorate, too.