Who You Are Matters

    I have called many places home throughout my life. I was born and lived for 8 years in Charlotte, North Carolina. In second grade, I moved to Hong Kong where I lived for four years and then moved back to the United States for middle school, this time landing in Los Gatos, California right in the middle of Silicon Valley. The fact that I have lived many places informs my desire to continue exploring the world. As for where I am going in the near future, I am moving to Hong Kong in the fall for my sophomore year and the following fall am moving to Milan, Italy for my junior year, all a part of the World Bachelor of Business program in which I am currently enrolled. As for where I am going in the long term, who knows? Hopefully I will find a way to continue exploring. I will get there by hopefully working abroad after college and carefully checking off all the places on my 'Must Travel To' list. 

    My parents and I are very alike. My mom is my best friend and, like me, wears her emotions on her face, so I always know what she is thinking. She is probably my greatest role model just because she is simply a good person who cares about everyone and is adored by all. My dad and I are both workaholics and are very thoughtful with our words. Unlike my parents, I am a dreamer while my parents are very practical. This sometimes makes it hard for us to understand each other. My parents have always given me my independence and have always pushed me to work hard for myself. For this reason, I definitely have very separate expectations for myself than others have for me. I stress myself out for no reason at all, and disappointing people is certainly one of my biggest fears. 

    I feel a special connection to dolphins not necessarily because I feel that I have many of the attributes of one, but I use to ride boats with my family in South Carolina during the summers and watching the dolphins bump up against the side of the boat was always very exciting for me. I also love that dolphins are large and kind of intimidating looking but are actually very smart and not generally aggressive. As far as my encounters with trees and/or plants, growing up in Charlotte, there was a tall tree behind my neighbor's house that all the kids would try to climb after school. This tree became a gathering place for all of my friends where we could escape and talk to each other in the branches.