I Am Not Jessica Chen

As high-school senior Jenna Chen waits for an email from the Harvard University admissions department, she reflects on how she believes that if she wants something really badly, “the universe will make sure to keep it just out of [her] reach” (1). She dreams of reading an acceptance notice from Harvard and her parents’ pride in her when she tells them. However, she begins to grow anxious when she thinks of all the other, more academic high-schoolers who have already been rejected by other Ivy League universities.

The email arrives, but it is a rejection. A despondent Jenna tells herself she is simply not good enough. Her mother calls out to her, and as Jenna heads downstairs, she wonders how she will tell her parents all their hard work with her did not pay off.

Jenna and her parents arrive at her much-wealthier Uncle and Auntie’s magnificent house. Jenna’s smart and beautiful cousin, Jessica Chen, whom Jenna endlessly compares herself to, informs her that Aaron Cai is also there. Aaron’s father is best friends with Jenna’s father, and is back early from a medical youth program he was attending in Paris. A shocked and mortified Jenna accepts a pen that Aaron hands her.