Pearl Huang was born and raised in Taipei, Taiwan. She was born into a rather wealthy family.

She went to an all-girls boarding school for her high school education. She hated it there because there were no choices for her. Everyone had the same curriculum and there were no electives.

Pearl hated not having electives because she loved art. Her parents didn't support this so it was hard for her to practice her skills.

Pearl hated her high school, which was an all-girls boarding school. She had heard that school in America was much better and that there was more opportunity. So she told her parents.

Thus, Pearl applied for a student visa and on August 1, 1985, at age 18, she came to America.

Her guardians, a Chinese couple from Malaysia, picked her up from the airport and took her home. She stayed with them for the first year of living in America.