Beautiful Country: A Memoir

Qian was invited to an overnight field trip the week that Ma Ma was to come home from the hospital. Ba Ba encouraged Qian to attend, despite her worrying about leaving Ma Ma at home without her. Qian understood what was beneath Ba Ba’s encouragement: He felt that she would be in the way. Ba Ba’s criticism had become constant. When Qian wanted to apply to a prestigious school for gifted children, the NYC Lab Middle School for Collaborative Studies, Ba Ba told Qian that she would only be disappointed when she was rejected. Since Qian no longer feared embarrassment or rejection, she decided to try anyway. She attended the interview at Lab by herself and impressed the interviewer with her knowledge of books. In the hallways of Lab, Qian noted students of different races together, joking and laughing. It was very different from the school she currently attended.

When she told her father and Mr. Kane that she had been accepted into Lab, both reacted with disbelief. Mr. Kane tried to dissuade her from attending, saying that the work would be too difficult for her. Qian, though, felt that she was doing what Ma Ma would have wanted.