We all have choices that we make in life, some good, some bad. Our lives are a series of choices. For instance, the college you decided to go to determines your geographic location, your location in school decides where you begin building your professional network as well as work experience and more likely then not, you end up staying in the area after finishing school.

So I remember back when I was in grade school and my parents forced me through Chinese School. I was never naturally gifted in language learning, what I did do though from when I was a little boy until my adolescence was overly rely on my sister to help me through the classes. A little help here and that is fine, but as the years went by, the reliance became greater and greater and I fell further and further behind. By high school, it was impossible to keep up. At a young age, I didn’t realize the importance of a second language, it wasn’t until college that I made a concerted effort to make up for what I left out.

And now my Chinese is not as good as it could have been if I had put more effort into it as a child. It’s a part of me now. Our bad choices define us. What we can do is learn what we can from the past and move on.

Kingston S. Lim

January 11, 2020

Bangkok, Thailand