As the first generation immigrant from China, I was asked to speak at various events because people are fascinated by my story. Twenty one years ago when I came to this country, I had only $40 in my pocket. Against the odds of being laid off from a very large company in 2008, I came a long way from an engineer to be a business owner today. And the best of all, I realized my dream of doing something I truly like.
I would summarize my American journey in two milestones. The first milestone was ten years into living in the United States, I had a very nice job with Eastman Kodak Company, a nice family with two boys, and a big house with no mortgage and no debt. The second milestone was twenty years into living in the United States, I lost my job but found my own company, our family grew with another addition: a baby boy, and financially we were doing very well.
I contribute my success to my strong personality. If somebody gave me a lemon, I would say: watch me, how I turn it into lemonade. It was this kind of attitude that kept my head hold high in difficult circumstances. With hard work and some talents, I was able to acquire wealth through good jobs and investment. And I am a saver. Ever since I started working, I have always maxed out my 401K contribution. Over the years, it grew to be a nice big egg. So when the job was not there, I am able to create my own job and weather off years of no income.
But my success did not come easy. Ever since I was 10 years old, I went to the most famous boarding school in Shanghai. It was from 6am to 9pm daily 6 days a week this kind of study in school and hard-working prepared me for my long journey to achieve my American dream. I am grateful that my parents insisted to send me to the best schools in China despite the fact we were very poor at that time and they had to borrow money to do so. Thirty years ago, my mother as an elementary school teacher was making $10 a month in salary. My parents were not “Tiger Mother” (this is a very controversial topic today both in China and in USA). I simply knew what was expected of me and I wanted so much to live a better life, so I automatically did everything they expected of me and I made them very proud of me by bringing them many “faces” (Chinese are big on saving faces). All of my brother and sisters went to colleagues and received very good education. Today all of us siblings are either USA citizen or Canada citizen and we are doing well. I can certainly relate to the documentary “Last Train Home” (归途列车) about Chinese parents’ unappreciated sacrifices in their children’s eyes. When I was young I may not have realized that but as I grew older and had my own children, I really appreciated how much my parents have sacrificed for me. My Chinese family certainly contributed to my success too.
今天的人难以理解我为什么跑那么远的路不在国内发展，我完全理解。二十多年前，我是一个没权，没钱的家庭里的孩子，虽然毕业于名校也是高校允许自己找工作开放的第一年，但没有门路还要服从分配，所以出国是第一选择，当时我甚至不惜牺牲我的文凭，坚决地一毕业就走了。我可以全然不顾四年的勤奋苦读以及对于这所学校的热爱，拿着肄业文凭就走了，原因是大三时为办护照当时的规定是要停学的，只是形式而已，我完成全部的学业及答辩，在当时的同一届毕业生中也只有五六个像我这样拿肄业文凭自费留学的。虽然痛心不已，但我知道我是去学研究生学位的，学校要不给我本科生文凭，我又能怎样？好在我七月走的，九月学校就让我妈妈去拿毕业文凭，给我们补上了。当我在美国收到文凭时，你可以想象我的心情是怎样的。
