First Generation Grad Excels in Math and Law | alum.mit.edu

Although her parents didn’t receive a higher education, Carina Hong ’22 always knew she wanted to go to college. “I thought there’s such a big, exciting world out there, and I wanted to see how to get there,” she says. Mathematics opened the door. Born in Guangzhou, China, she discovered her passion early and joined a free math Olympiad program that introduced her to “super fun problems” and to the thinking of mathematicians from every era and geography. “Intellectually, I got to travel around the world,” she says. The program was extremely competitive, but Hong thrives on challenge. By high school the math Olympiad team had been whittled down from 1,000 kids to around 25. Hong was one of just four women still competing. She set her sights on MIT early. “At 14 or 15, I was writing ‘MIT’ on the margins of scratch paper to motivate myself to keep going,” she says. Still, making the transition to the Institute was tough. “I didn’t know any other person going to MIT from my life before,” s

Although her parents didn’t receive a higher education, Carina Hong ’22 always knew she wanted to go to college. “I thought there’s such a big, exciting world out there, and I wanted to see how to get there,” she says. Mathematics opened the door. Born in Guangzhou, China, she discovered her passion early and joined a free math Olympiad program that introduced her to “super fun problems” and to the thinking of mathematicians from every era and geography. “Intellectually, I got to travel around the world,” she says. The program was extremely competitive, but Hong thrives on challenge. By high s