Amy Tan was born on February 19, 1952, in Oakland, California. She grew up with her mom, dad, and brothers. Both her parents were immigrants from China who moved to the San Francisco Bay area to raise their children. Her family constantly relocated and by the time she graduated from high school, she …show more content…
At age fifteen her older brother and father died of brain tumors. This traumatic experience greatly affected her familyś life. Her mother, who believed they were under a curse, decided on a whim to move to Europe. Tan finished high school, even graduating one year early, in Montreux, Switzerland while living an exciting life, including almost eloping. As if her life was not fascinating enough, she decided to go to five different colleges including Linfield College, San Jose City College, San Jose State University, University of California at Santa Cruz, and University of California at Berkeley. Amy Tan acquired her bachelors with a double major in both English and Linguistics then continued to get a masters in Linguistics. After college she began to work as a language development specialist for disabled children which led the way for her to work for the U.S. Department of