In a 2010 interview with the Academy of Achievement, Lin recollects her passion for academics. 1"I loved getting A's . . . I think I had the highest grade point average in my high school," she expounds. She even participated in independent courses at Ohio University, and when she was not busy furthering in her education, Lin would make art in the school's facilities. She explains that 2"[she] was basically using the university as a playground." Lin's total immersion in intellectual and creative subjects, however, left her without much of a social life. The artist and architect remembers herself as a 3"Class A nerd" with a 4"China Doll sort of syndrome" and an aversion to group events and extracurricular activities. While such sentiments may seem to hold a negative connotation, Lin attributes her socially withdrawn personality to the development of qualities that contribute to her current success in art and architecture. Lacking social experience resulted in her having to creating her own environment in which to play and explore, a process that initially sparked the creativity, determination, and passion that drives her work today.
Throughout her childhood and adolescence, Lin and her immediate family exercised very close-knit relationships. Her parents contributed to and encouraged her intellect and creativity, and her older brother-who is now a poet and English professor-constantly challenged her with a classic, 5"healthy" sibling rivalry. While their dynamic was not always smooth or peaceful-they 6"fought a lot," says Lin-the two eventually engaged in an artistic collaboration on a piece for the Cleveland Public library called Reading A Garden. The installation features the work's title spelled backward, yet reflected forward into a pool of water, an aesthetic statement meant to represent a three-dimensional poem emphasizing 7"words and the directionality and weight of reading.
