Yu Feng - CHINA
Yu is pictured here holding her necklace in front of one of her favorite coffee shops, La Colombe. This was taken pre-draft latte consumption.
Yu Feng moved to America from China in order to study Hospitality at Cornell. Currently, she is one of the beloved managers at the famed Soho eatery, Mercer Kitchen. Even though Feng has been in the country for quite some time, her religion is something that she considers important, and she always wears a reminder in the form of a necklace that was a present from her mom. The Buddhist token was a souvenir from Mount Wutai, one of the locations in China that is sacred in Buddhist culture. “My mom said the necklace will bring me good luck and keep me safe when I'm far away overseas alone in America” Yu said, “so I keep it with me all the time”. She described her mother as a serious follower of the religion and she has influenced Feng’s own practice. Even though she isn’t with her mom currently, the necklace symbolizes a daily mental note to always be a kind and helpful person; traits that Yu certainly embodies effortlessly.