Zoey's Chinese name means “quiet clang.” But otherwise, Zoey is far from quiet, always using their voice to correct wrongs.
Zoey Kapusinski’s Chinese name means “quiet clang.” They were found by the road in a Zhejiang Province village with a little piece of red paper stating their Chinese name and their birthday. Zoey recalls a time that the “quiet” in their name seemed to fit, remarking, “There is a photo of three babies in the orphanage sitting on a couch, and I’m looking at the crying one with a face like, “Shhh!’”
But otherwise, Zoey is far from quiet, always using their voice to correct wrongs. For instance, when Zoey was very young, they came to their mom having heard someone claim that he was born from his mother’s tummy. They told their mom that they had corrected him, saying, “No you don’t. You come from China!” All joking aside, Zoey’s voice really is an amazing presence in their community. Having grown up doing a lot of community service, they are super passionate about social justice and community service. Working with a group of local Chinese adoptees, they have raised over $9,000 dollars for charities serving children in China. This group of Seattle-area Chinese adoptees calls themselves the Dinner Bunch, and pre-college they would come together each month for dinners and sleepovers. But to Zoey, the Dinner Bunch isn’t just a cool name. In fact, they credit having this core group as being instrumental in helping to normalize adoption.
Inspired by the lush greenery of the Pacific Northwest suburb in which they grew up as an only child, Zoey also uses their voice to speak on behalf of the environment. Today, they're just two weeks away from graduating from Whitman College with a degree in biology and environmental studies with a sociology minor. No matter where they go, I’m confident that Zoey will make their voice heard.
Humans of CCI published on Facebook in 2017.