About Carol Cao

I’m a Chinese-American born in Qingdao, China. When I was seven months old, I completely lost my hearing from a baby stroke- my doctor told my mom I would not be able to speak in the future. Fortunately, I was one of the first patients in China to receive cochlear implants; back then, it was a new type of operation. However, I had to work extremely hard to achieve what is easy for everyone else. While other children were playing, I practiced speaking sixteen hours a day for five years. Unfortunately, due to my hearing loss, I missed out on a childhood. I was lucky to have met many great people who influenced me – my teachers, family, and friends who helped me and always supported me. When I was 18 years old, I took the initiative to move to the United States, and my family decided to come with me. It was a very challenging time for me because English is my second language. Almost all the teachers in my school – Great Neck North High School – said that I couldn’t get a high school diploma in the next two years and would need to go back to China or transfer to another high school. Despite the opposition, I believed that I could do it. To prove them wrong, I took an extra year to pass five exams and got a high school diploma. I then went on to Parsons school of fashion design for two years and later transferred to the School of Visual Arts (SVA) to study Fine Arts. However, I did not give up on my dream of being a fashion designer.Read their story