I’ve always lived in a bubble. I have a caring family that keeps me fed, puts the clothes on my back, and a roof over my head. My education is paid for. I’m encouraged to pursue my passions and my dreams. I’ve had a carefree childhood.

When my parents decided to leave everything behind and immigrate to Canada, they did it to give my brother and I the best lives and opportunities that we could have. And they have. It’s a common story, but an important one. I would never take their sacrifices and hardships for granted. This is one thought that motivates me to do my best every day.

I used to be so detached from everything around me, choosing instead to take refuge in the wanderings of my own imagination. I was shy and reserved, not wanting to shake the boat, and not wanting to wake from the dream of my comfortable adolescence. I focused on acing my Biology test, or the Clarinet piece I had to practice for band the next day. Anything outside my own fenced-in world wasn’t of my concern. And so I was ignorant – apathetic. Clueless.

I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life. I didn’t really have any dreams (other than my passion for writing stories as an outlet for my active imagination) or goals for my future. This gap in my life became obviously evident when I came to UBC for first year Science. I realized I had never given much thought into what I wanted to do. I realized that I didn’t belong in Science. I realized just how big the real world truly was and I grew frightened. Lost. I woke up from my dreaming.

So I decided that I had to find out just what I wanted to do with my life. I took action, and eventually found the GRS program. By taking my life into my hands, I began to open my eyes to the world around me and finally saw the bubble of a world I had been living in. Since then, I have been doing my best to step outside my bubble in order to expand my world.

The more I’ve learned, the more I’ve realized just how lucky I am, and the more I realize my own ignorance and biases. I have lead a very privileged life. And why? There’s no real reason that I’m living so well in Canada while another girl my age is starving on the other side of the world. These were just the cards we were dealt.

The last two years of university have taught me to embrace and love myself. I’ve learned to appreciate the little things in my life and figured out how to go about to pursue my own happiness.

My thoughts and appreciation towards my parents have come full circle: don’t take what you have for granted. Ever. I have been given abundant source of support and resources that allow me to pursue my passions and dreams. I want to utilize these resources along with my head, hands, and heart to reach out to those less fortunate than I, so I can empower them to pursue their own forms of happiness. Whether I succeed or fail, it doesn’t matter. That’s what I want to do with my life. I’d rather die trying than to not try at all.

I am learned yet unlearned. Aware yet ignorant. Yet here I am, doing my best to learn more about this enormous world every day. I live for inspiration and in turn live to inspire.

This is what motivates me.