If it’s not too basic, I like to say that I come from humble beginnings. I cannot say that I have never lost track of who I was, but I have never failed to look back to see how far I have come. From where I stand today, I never imagined a decade ago. But no road is without bumps and many unfortunate potholes.

Because my parents were immigrants from China, a few months after opening my eyes to see the world, I was shipped back to China to be taken care of by my grandparents. Understandably, my parents were desperately building a financial status that could support our family. Life was not enjoyable for my parents. They practically worked from dawn to dusk. Eating out and buying new clothes were practically unheard of.

When my age was ripped enough to come back to America for preschool, I was immediately enrolled to learn English. With age did not come maturity. Unimaginably, I was quite the kid growing up. I am still told of past incidents where I shoved a neighboring kid off his scooter and simply took it as my own.

I went to preschool like everyone else. My story differs from where I would cry every day in class. Because I spoke little to no English, I was shy for the first time and wanted to go home. I had always had it my way, but my parents were not having it. Many mid-afternoons, my parents, at work, would receive a phone call from my preschool telling them that they need to pick me up. They did and I received a whipping, but the next day, I would continue to cry and whine about going home. I would speak in Mandarin Chinese, “爸爸快来接我”, which means, “Daddy come pick me up.” It was so repetitive that the teacher knew how to say it by the end of it. The preschool would later call my parents and tell them I was too much and that they should find another preschool that “better suited me.” It turned out, no preschool suited me.

I was forcibly sent to elementary school despite having no English up my sleeves. Imaginably my experience there was not too thrilling. Because of this negative impression, I had a disliking of schooling. It just felt like something that clipped my wings of freedom.

And now ironically I am writing this for an English class and with the noble quest of the pursuit of knowledge. The difference is drastic and just comes to show how much I have grown.