I AM NOT A CAGELING

I bought a sculpture from Ross yesterday. It is a gypsums bird and I named it Hope. He is going to fly away from the case to get his freedom and follow his dream. That is exactly what I did before I came to the US. I was born in a conventional Chinese family so that all my eldership thought I should have an ordinary life like them. I used to follow them when I was very young. They told me to get the offer to our best middle school in our city—I did that. I like piano but they want me to study Erhu (a Chinese musical instrument)—I learnt Erhu for seven years even I do not like it.  That was my lifestyle before high school.

After I got the offer from our best high school in the city, I was so proud of myself at first—I completed the task they set for me. It was really hard to get that offer. I used to stay up to four am in the morning working on my math quiz. I still remember the orientation day—it was 28^th August 2006. I came to school with my pinky school bag in a white skirt. Our first class is called “find your way to your future”. In that class the teacher asked us to share our own dreams about our future. Everyone have their own idea except me—I always follow my parents’ and relatives’ suggestion and I never thought about my own dream! I was so upset and dispirited.

I began to think about my life. What should I do next? What is my dream? One can never be happy if he or she working on a thing that he or she is not interest in that. So I started to look up for my interest but it is so hard to find something stable. When I lose all hope of that, my dad and I had a long conversation. He said:” You can never find a interest for your entire life. You thought and interest would change after you had experienced something. You never know what is waiting for you on your way. Just do the things that you love right now, learning is always a good thing and it’s never too old to learn!” 

I decided to study abroad after that conversation because life is so short and I want to experience more different cultures. Besides, I can keep on searching for my interest by studying abroad. My parents are very supportive and they convinced all of my relatives. I flew out of my case and start my new life here. I believe I could find my way and get a good future.