President

ALISAN TURNER

MAJOR: Biology (BS) with Psychology minor

YEAR: Senior

ETHNICITY: Chinese

ROLE: As president, it's my job to ensure that all of the inner workings of DCC are running smoothly, as well as help oversee and plan all of our programs and events. I work closely with the rest of the officers and with our faculty advisor to set goals for our club and make sure that our mission is being achieved. I also conduct the general and officer club meetings.

WHY DID YOU JOIN?: I was adopted from China when I was 6 months old. Since then I’ve been a member of Families with Children from China in Austin, a group that brings adopted families together to celebrate their children’s Chinese culture. Through FCC and their Chinese Culture camp they host every summer with the help of UT Austin’s China Care Club, I’ve had the privilege of working with and befriending many fellow Chinese adoptees. This has motivated me to start a China Care here at UTD, to connect and inspire Dallas’s Chinese adoptee community, help better the lives of medically fragile orphaned children in China, and simply give back to the orphanages who give so much to children without homes. I went to China on a the Half the Sky Adoptee Summer Volunteer Trip during the summer of 2015. There I volunteered at the China Care Home in Beijing and worked and played with Chinese orphans in need of surgery. Spending time with these children and seeing first hand the work that Half the Sky does to better the care that orphans receive, inspired me to want to start this club even more.

FUN FACT: My favorite animals are elephants and pandas. I'm a huge Harry Potter fan, and my favorite superhero is Wolverine, but Iron Man is a close second.