While the language barrier continued to be an issue, Ting’s ESL sessions and her teachers’ encouragement made her feel as if she was “seen” and “heard”, not only as a hard working student but also as a creative soul. Ting fondly recalls her first grade teacher, Ms. Eileen, who discovered and encouraged Ting’s love for art by gifting her a small art beading set, which Ting accepted with great joy and a sense of relief. She understood at a young age that this was a special school where teachers were encouraging, thoughtful and patient.
This type of encouragement from teachers and sponsors continued on throughout her time at Sacred Heart, and together with her parents unending support to ensure that she excelled in English, Mandarin, and math, she skipped 3rd grade and eventually graduated as the 2008 class valedictorian.
In 4th grade, Ting started helping out in the “Front of House” at the family restaurant after school, taking and adding orders by hand. While her math was on track, she found grammar to be a struggle. In 5th grade, she encountered Mr. Grimmer, who was relentless in his efforts to improve his students’ grammar proficiency and prepare for high school. Ting did not appreciate Mr. Grimmer’s efforts at the time but now credits him with building a foundation to help her compete in an environment with students who had greater financial and academic opportunities, which she soon faced at Camden Catholic High School and then at NYU Stern School of Business.
Ting attended Camden Catholic on a Langan Scholarship and was grateful for Mr. John Langan and Judy Nadell’s generosity and active involvement throughout the 4 years and beyond; He provided the scholars with books to expand their knowledge on a plethora of subjects and provided his staff, Ms. Deborah Grandinetti, to mentor the scholars, who many, like Ting, are first generation students from underprivileged communities. This experience led Ting to want to be involved in philanthropic opportunities and give back to the community, especially to underprivileged youth. She did just that by coaching SAT at Lets Get Ready for 2 years while at NYU.
Fast forward to 2021. Ting lives in NYC and is now a VP at BNY Mellon working in their Business Architecture department. She’s still giving back and engaging with youth - most recently leading BNY Mellon’s 2019 North America High School Technology Internship Program.
In that same year, Ting came back as the guest speaker for Catholic Partnership Schools graduating class of 2019, in which she told graduates that it's okay to doubt but not to dwell - to be open minded, and genuine, be curious, be empathetic, explore, ask for guidance just like she did. She encouraged them to reflect often and to write down the things you appreciate, things that inspired you, and things that you want to strive towards and to remember the Sacred Heart family and all that they provided to set you in the direction of success!
We are excited to share Ting’s success story as she is a beacon of hope for our students in Camden. Proof that hard work and dedication can lead to great accomplishments and better yet, being a really great person.
While the language barrier continued to be an issue, Ting’s ESL sessions and her teachers’ encouragement made her feel as if she was “seen” and “heard”, not only as a hard working student but also as a creative soul. Ting fondly recalls her first grade teacher, Ms. Eileen, who discovered and encouraged Ting’s love for art by gifting her a small art beading set, which Ting accepted with great joy and a sense of relief. She understood at a young age that this was a special school where teachers were encouraging, thoughtful and patient.
This type of encouragement from teachers and sponsors continued on throughout her time at Sacred Heart, and together with her parents unending support to ensure that she excelled in English, Mandarin, and math, she skipped 3rd grade and eventually graduated as the 2008 class valedictorian.
In 4th grade, Ting started helping out in the “Front of House” at the family restaurant after school, taking and adding orders by hand. While her math was on track, she found grammar to be a struggle. In 5th grade, she encountered Mr. Grimmer, who was relentless in his efforts to improve his students’ grammar proficiency and prepare for high school. Ting did not appreciate Mr. Grimmer’s efforts at the time but now credits him with building a foundation to help her compete in an environment with students who had greater financial and academic opportunities, which she soon faced at Camden Catholic High School and then at NYU Stern School of Business.
Ting attended Camden Catholic on a Langan Scholarship and was grateful for Mr. John Langan and Judy Nadell’s generosity and active involvement throughout the 4 years and beyond; He provided the scholars with books to expand their knowledge on a plethora of subjects and provided his staff, Ms. Deborah Grandinetti, to mentor the scholars, who many, like Ting, are first generation students from underprivileged communities. This experience led Ting to want to be involved in philanthropic opportunities and give back to the community, especially to underprivileged youth. She did just that by coaching SAT at Lets Get Ready for 2 years while at NYU.
Fast forward to 2021. Ting lives in NYC and is now a VP at BNY Mellon working in their Business Architecture department. She’s still giving back and engaging with youth - most recently leading BNY Mellon’s 2019 North America High School Technology Internship Program.
In that same year, Ting came back as the guest speaker for Catholic Partnership Schools graduating class of 2019, in which she told graduates that it's okay to doubt but not to dwell - to be open minded, and genuine, be curious, be empathetic, explore, ask for guidance just like she did. She encouraged them to reflect often and to write down the things you appreciate, things that inspired you, and things that you want to strive towards and to remember the Sacred Heart family and all that they provided to set you in the direction of success!
We are excited to share Ting’s success story as she is a beacon of hope for our students in Camden. Proof that hard work and dedication can lead to great accomplishments and better yet, being a really great person.