Once she arrived in Boston, Mee Jin Jang was no more, and the world knew her as Sarah Pomeroy. The first meal that she ate was chicken noodle soup. Ignoring the note that said not to overeat, Sarah gulped down several helpings of soup because she was so hungry. The only things that Sarah brought with her were the note, a painting, the clothes on her back, and little rubber boots. She hid the little boots under the rug hoping her family wouldn't find the little token that reminded her so much of life back in Korea. The first year in America was especially tough for Sarah because she could not speak English. As a result of not being able to communicate with her parents, Sarah remembers crying herself to sleep for the first three months. Soon enough, her parents started bringing her to Korean Restaurants to understand what she was trying to say. Koreana Restaurant in Cambridge was where Sarah and her parents spent many hours with the workers translating each others words. It took an entire year before Sarah was proficient enough in English to enter Kindergarten.

Sarah became a Unites States citizen in fourth grade and was naturalized in the Massachusetts State House. She remembers going through piles of paperwork and pledging her allegiance to the US with numerous other immigrants. From a young age she was taught Christianity, and it became more prevalent as she grew up. Her parents enrolled her in a white Catholic school and Sarah was forced to assimilate into their culture and beliefs, often being the only minority in class. In school, Sarah felt pressure to uphold the “model minority," the Asian American standard to excel in school. Her teachers publicly put her down because she wasn't proficient in subjects like art and math, which were supposed to be "Asian strengths". The feeling that she disappointed her teachers was hard to come to terms with and created a period of turmoil in her life. However, although she lacked in areas such as mathematics, she excelled in writing. Eventually, she entered social work as a career path to “stay away from the mathematical side and to help those in need.”