Carina Letong Hong ’22

Graduation Year: 2022
Program: 18: Mathematics and 8: Physics
Trajectory: Canton (Guangzhou)/Teoswa (Chaoshan), China -> MIT

I was born and have lived in Canton (Guangzhou) my whole life, where my grandparents and parent are from Teoswa (Chaoshan). Both cities are located in the very south of China, and have profound culture with the latter being the origin of kung fu tea and lion dance. However the gender inequality situation in Teoswa rural area is a fact that’s hard to ignore as I grew up. I learn from my grandmother and mother many beautiful virtues such as optimism and resilience. My cousin and I are the only two in my large extended family who have/ will receive(d) college education. It has been quite a magical journey that I ended up traveling overseas, and am on the track of pursuing a doctoral education after my master by research degree in mathematics at the University of Oxford.

My dream in life as of now is to become an academic and solve problems. There are many conjectures out there that attract generations of devoted mathematicians, and I would like to join their efforts. I would also like to improve women’s, FGLI’s, and other underrepresented groups’ status in academia, through means of community building, mentorship, and outreach initiatives. At MIT I also serve as the President of the Undergraduate Math Association and President of the International Student Association. So I’d be more than happy to chat with follow FGLI-ers about any question they may have about math/ research/ life as an international student.