Who You Are Matters

I was born in a southern city in China called Foshan. I grew up in a nearby city called Guangzhou (people might have heard of the place because of its origin of Dim-Sum and its physical proximity to Hong Kong). I really love living there but I tend to have mixed feelings toward the weather in Guangzhou. It's usually very humid. Summer there is quite unbearable with the flaming sun but spring is great with frequent rainfall. Overall people in Guangzhou are unlike people in other larger cities in China (Beijing, Shanghai, etc). People here are more chilled and enjoying moments of their lives. I love going to Dim-Sum places on Sunday morning and spend the whole day having some conversations with my parents at the restaurants.  

Currently, my plan after graduation is to get a job in the Finance industry (Hopefully in Investment Banking). In fact, I encountered a huge setback recently professionally. I wasn't able to do my Investment Banking internship this summer because of my VISA status as an international student. I am graduating after this summer so I am looking for full-time jobs right now. Hopefully, I am able to land a job before August. I know it's a hard time for me right now and I am going to do what I can to seek opportunities.

To be honest, I think I share some traits that are alike to both my mom and dad. I am quite sentimental and emotional like my mom. I am as sensitive as her. On the other side, I am like my dad for the perseverance spirit. I tend to perform better in the longer term. Things that unlike would be our values. My parents are still holding quite traditional Chinese values whereas I am accepting more diverse values in high school and in college. 

 
I think I developed expectations for myself based on the people around me. I am a quite susceptible person. When people around me are ambitious, hard-working, and diligent, I tend to set my expectations higher and tend to achieve better results. However, I do feel that deep inside, I want to have my own voice or at least I am aware of having my own expectations of life is crucial. I am still working on getting to know better about myself.

I would say my recent model is the bird-watching guide (Oscar) I met in Costa Rica this week. He loves nature so much so he would rather stay in the rainforest for the whole day. He loves what he does as a guide but not just for money. He enjoys listening to birds singing and quieting watching them dancing on trees. I was very lost recently due to my lost internship and his passion for his job and his easy satisfying attitude for life really touches me deeply and I started to contemplate who I want to be for this life. 

I got a puppy recently. It's Yorky and Chihuahua mix so it's very tiny. Raising a puppy helps me realize the need to show love and care to creatures around me constantly. By staying with my puppy, I learned so much about the (subtle) emotions animals could have and I am working on improving my own skills and habits to help my puppy become a better trained one.

My mom is a teacher. I lived with my mom in her school apartment when I was a child. There was a growing sweet osmanthus tree outside the apartment's balcony. In summer, I liked to sit on the balcony reading books, wondering about the world, and smelling the fresh scent of flowers grown in the tree. The tree was always able to calm me down and helped me figure the beauty of nature. 
 
Sun Sign: Cancer
Moon Sign: Leo
Rising Sign: Capricorn