I love the saying that no two people are the same. Among thousands of “Elaine Chen” in this universe, I am unique in my own way.

The past nineteen years I’ve been through was pretty dramatic. My parents were both born and raised in a small county. In consideration of my future, they brought me to a big city, Zhengzhou, for better education when I was five. We moved around from places to places the next few years. At the age of fifteen, my whole family moved to New York City. Then I graduated from Forest Hills High School in Queens in 2014. And now I am here in Stony Brook University with a Clinical Laboratory Science Major and music and dance double minor. I plan to attend a medical school somewhere in North Europe after recieving college degree and become a family doctor in the future.

My personality is pretty easygoing. I get along with people. I never get mad when people joke around with me. I have a positive attitude towards life and I insist on things I want. I would chase my dream no matter what other people think or say. But I do care the way I dress. I have a habit to check on whether I look alright or not whenever I see mirrors, car windows, glasses on buildings or anything that reflects light. Another fun fact about me is that I am afraid of all animals and insects, especially pigeon, unless they are in cages.

Besides two of my favorite things, eat and sleep (Just kidding, everyone knows I am dedicated and hard working), I like to do others things too. Like most girls, I never get tired of shopping. I also love cooking, singing, dancing, taking selfies, watching movies and hanging out with friends.

The reason I chose “Storytelling through music” as my ACH 102 class is that music is one of the most important parts in my life. I had more experiences with classical music compare to pop music. The first instrument I learned was keyboard. It was kind of boring to me at the beginning honestly, but I am so glad I didn’t stop. After listening to a CD of Richard Clayderman’s piano performance, I surprisingly found out that the sound of piano was so amazing, so I decided to transfer to piano learning. I went to several concerts in China, mostly piano recitals and symphony orchestra, which impressed me a lot. After moving to NYC, I started to learn violin in high school and joined the school orchestra. It felt so good when I was performing on the stage, and it made me love music even more. I am a music minor here in Stony Brook University and I would like to continue my music journey.