MOVING ON

Jiao is a psychology concentrator from Lowell House, just as fellow thespian Natalie Portman ’03 was a decade earlier. Last summer, as the 11th season of Degrassi was being filmed, Jiao participated in a study abroad program in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Oxford University, Queens College led by Harvard lecturer Andrew Berry.

Jiao said she hopes to go to Oxford for business school. As a business associate for Harvard Undergraduate Television, she combines this interest with her experience in entertainment. Jiao is uncertain if she will ever return to acting, which she said is both a competitive and volatile industry.

Still, Jiao credits her experience on Degrassi with providing her with unique opportunities and helping her gain confidence in herself. Through a difficult audition process, Jiao said she learned to deal with rejection and negative feedback.

“I think that’s definitely a very applicable skill to possess for the future,” she said.

Jiao said she often thinks back to the day she first considered acting. “If I had not been shopping that day, my life would be completely different,” she said. “There are so many experiences I was able to have through Degrassi.”

“It’s weird how life works like that sometimes. These chance encounters will set you on a completely different course for the rest of your life,” she added.