“Surviving 996” (2023-2024)

Although I had many opportunities to practice and demonstrate my writing skills during high school, I lacked the freedom to pursue and engage in topics that I was genuinely interested in. Furthermore, the curriculum of my high school limited me by requiring its students to write in basic, five-paragraph CER (Claim Evidence Reasoning) structures that made writing every essay feel the same, which caused me to become less interested in writing itself.

However, when I started my college education at NYU Tandon in the fall of 2022, my professors prioritized teaching me to engage with topics critically rather than requiring me to utilize a specific format or style. Furthermore, I got to read the essays of past students, in which I found a diverse host of vibrant styles and structures, all of which worked exceptionally for the stories that each student was trying to tell. This radical change in essay writing also presented a moment of challenge and growth to me, as I had to become comfortable with writing in a more flexible, fluid style rather than sticking to some essay-writing formula that I had used for so many years. It was an incredibly difficult transition, but one that allowed me to finally enjoy the writing process as I learned to use my own voice in my own writing.

My cultural conversations essay was inspired by the labor movements that had risen in the wake of the recent recessions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, such as the anti-work movement and the trends of working from home. However, while these specific labor movements already had significant coverage in America, Chinese labor movements like ‘Tang Ping’ were less explored, despite being equally if not more severe in scale. Thus, as a Chinese Canadian who has studied in China for most of my life, I wanted to cast light on these lesser-known movements that I believed could teach not only something about the nature of labor movements, but also reveal something about Chinese culture and the way it affects workers to this day. The essay was difficult, costing me many hours as I researched and revised repeatedly. But with the helpful feedback from my professor and classmates, I produced an essay that not only revealed the difficult truths of the Chinese work culture but also solidified my love for writing and my ability to use my own voice in an effective and passionate manner.

Sunny Qi, ’26, grew up in Vancouver, Canada, and is currently a first-year student at the Tandon School of Engineering in Brooklyn. He’s pursuing an undergraduate degree in computer engineering with a focus on human-computer interactions to study the ways that computer technology can benefit people, especially individuals who suffer from disabilities. While he has a profound interest in solving the computer programming and mathematical challenges in his coursework, he is also an avid history lover, passionate pianist, and an amateur composer. His essay combines his interests in STEM with his interests in humanities to investigate the lesser-spoken socio-political challenges that the very people working to advance technology face in their line of work.