“BART has been a really big constant in my life”: Why a South SF local took her grad photos at a BART station

Kiana Leong pictured in her graduation photos at Downtown Berkeley Station. All photos courtesy of Julianne Han.

For Kiana Leong, a BART ride is like a yardstick for her life.  

The South San Francisco local has been riding BART for as long as she can remember. Her earliest memories stem from preschool, when she and her mom would hop on a train to visit her dad at his work in the city. Fifteen years later, Leong, a recent UC Berkeley graduate, is still riding – and reminiscing – on BART trains.

“In college, I’d literally stare out the BART window and think, I was here as a kid and now I’m a full-on adult looking out the same windows,” Leong said recently. “It’s crazy. I’m sitting here on BART, but I’m quite a different person than when I was a kid.”

For kids like Leong who grew up in the Bay Area, BART is a symbol of constancy in an endlessly changing region. While the scenery out the window may transform, as well as the person viewing it, the trains continue to run along their familiar, well-trod routes.

“BART has been a really big constant in my life,” Leong said.

A first-generation college student, Leong graduated from UC Berkeley in mid-May with a bachelor’s degree in English literature and a minor in education. She took her graduation photos at the station closest to campus, Downtown Berkeley.

BART served as Leong’s main mode of transportation while she studied at Berkeley, taking her to volunteer shifts at Malcolm X Elementary School Garden or nights out in San Francisco. Even before college, Leong and her friends relied on BART to get around. She remembers many nights as a teenager falling asleep on a friend’s shoulder as the train carried them homeward.

“We didn’t have licenses or cars,” she said. “BART gave us the freedom to get around regardless.”

Leong said she is troubled by the financial challenges facing public transportation.

“Being on BART on the regular, you see the people who rely on it. It’s working class people of color and students like me who can’t afford to own a car,” she said. “Without BART, people won’t be able to get to work, won’t be able to visit loved ones.”

Per recent ridership data, 67% of BART riders identify as non-white, 43% do not have a vehicle, and 31% report having annual household incomes under $50,000.

“I get that people who own cars don’t give a s---,” she continued. “But all these people rely on transit, and it’s sad many officials don’t care enough to fund it.”   

Leong isn’t certain what she’ll do next now that she’s graduated. She’s currently exploring her options, submitting applications, and working for a professor over the summer. Her “ultimate, eventual goal” is to become a high school English teacher, “probably in the Bay Area, as a way of giving back.”

Even now, so many years after her first BART ride, Leong still catches herself staring out the train windows, reflecting on the past and dreaming toward the future.

“No matter where I go, I will always look forward to returning home,” she said. “And home for me is the Bay Area, even BART.”

How are you celebrating Graduation Season? 

Tell us about your story! Show us on social media at SFBARTable and #SFBARTable! Keep up with us on Facebook and Instagram to see all of the best BARTable events, places to eat and where to have fun around the Bay.