Finding Independence in America: An International Student's Journey from Malaysia to Medical School

In 1970, Kwan Kew Lai arrived in the U.S. from Malaysia on an F-1 student visa, supported by a full college scholarship, to find a society in social upheaval following the Vietnam War. Raised in a politically restrictive, sheltered, and impoverished environment, her introduction to American life was marked by freedoms and complexities that were vastly different from the world she had previously known.

Spanning 17 years, this memoir follows Lai's transformation from international student to...