USU Ensign Celebrates Her Navy Community: "They're so Resilient, Strong."
By Ian Neligh
Navy Ensign Mengchuan Li fell in love with the ocean as a child. She has fond memories of her father taking her there to swim when she was growing up.
Li was born and raised on the east coast of China but says she decided early on she wanted to move to the United States for a better opportunity.
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| Navy Ensign Mengchuan Li is currently studying medicine at USU to become a military doctor. (Photo credit: Tom Balfour, USU) |
Doing so would eventually mean working to become a Navy doctor, and dedicating her life to helping others. Li is currently in her second year of medical school at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU).
Immersion
Li came to finish her senior year of high school in the United States in 2006, eventually renting an apartment with roommates. After graduating, she attended Ohio State University to get a degree in chemical engineering.
“That’s where I started to have cultural shock,” Li says. “In Chinatown, everybody spoke Chinese, you walk into a bank, a McDonalds, everybody speaks Chinese — but at Ohio State – I’d never even had breakfast cereal before.”
She says she worked hard to spend time with Americans and immerse herself in the culture of her new home.
“I got different jobs, I tried to hang out with American citizens, there were Chinese students on campus but I was thinking if I wanted to speak Chinese all the time I would have just stayed in China,” Li jokes. “I went to America because I wanted to see what America was all about.”
Enlisting in the Navy
While getting her undergraduate degree, she met a military recruiter and was interested in joining but she wasn’t yet a citizen and didn’t have a permanent resident (or “green”) card. Li attended Pennsylvania State University for her graduate degree after her time at Ohio State, and received her green card in 2014.
At that time, perhaps because of her love of the ocean and fond memories of her father at the seaside, Li decided to enlist in the Navy reserve, serving as a Machinist’s Mate.
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| Navy Ensign Mengchuan Li says joining the Navy provided her with a strong and supportive military family. (Photo courtesy of Navy Ensign Mengchuan Li) |
“The Navy reservists were like a family and community for me — especially because I didn’t have any family in the United States,” Li says. “That meant a lot to me.”
In boot camp, she says she learned a lot about her fellow enlistees.
“I’m like, ‘these are some of the most giving people; they’re so resilient, strong’ and I felt touched by their stories,” Li says.
Li also says she was interested in going to medical school but added it was simply too expensive and since she was still a Chinese citizen, it made getting student loans difficult. However, she says she often told herself while in military training that she was working toward her American citizenship, which kept her motivated.
“‘You’re running to your citizenship, so keep running. Run faster.’ That was my motivator for the running test," Li says.
She planned on getting her U.S. citizenship whether or not she joined the military and ultimately became a citizen in 2015. In 2017, she went to work as a field engineer for oil rigs in West Texas before a downturn in the market forced her to reevaluate and become a chemical processing engineer. Still interested in pursuing medicine, she learned about USU and decided to apply.
“I thought it was a great opportunity,” Li says. At USU, in addition to her medical studies, she enjoys the unique military curriculum, helping others out, the professionalism, and learning how to be a good leader. Li also takes pride in being a part of USU’s Navy community.
“I love the culture in the Navy where everyone helps each other, and the many role models I’ve looked up to over the years,” Li says, noting how supportive all of her peers have been.
“I just feel like it’s great — and that’s exactly what I joined the [Navy] for.”
