Harvard University

I stood frozen in the produce aisle at ShopRite, wondering which of the five varieties of oranges to buy. Valencia, Blood Orange, Organic, Florida Navel—what were the differences? When I asked my mom which variety she was looking for, she responded curtly, “It’s your choice. Pick what you want.” The thing was, I didn’t know what I wanted. For my parents, this level of freedom—even in the orange section of a grocery store—is somewhat unique to the United States. The lingering policies of the cultural revolution in the 1970s China dictated life choices for my parents; growing up in poverty,…