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Very ambitious, driven to succeed in academia. I saw my purpose and significance in being academically accomplished.

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In 2010, when I was attending a research conference in Vancouver, Canada --> an unexplainable feeling of emptiness, a sense of there must be something more to life than what I was currently pursuing. When I was trying to go for my ambition, I was alone. But there were important people, especially from my church, that helped me to see that I did not need to remain this empty.

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New perspective. I realized that my degree and all my accomplishments will only last for maybe 50 or 60 years, and although this is a part of my job still, it does not need to define my worth and purpose. My perspective now is more focused on people and relationships.

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Purpose in life: to be comfortable and happy, living for self.
- Very sheltered childhood with my nuclear family and a small group of friends.
- Focused on being a "good" kid, building my resume to get into a good college and get a good job.

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During high school, my Chinese teacher asked what we thought human nature was like - are we born good, bad, or both bad and good? She explained how we are born bad, which shocked me as I thought I was a good person in general. (But for example, we don't even need to teach little kids for them to be rebellious and mean.) I would keep going back to pivotal moments like these to consider who I am and what the purpose in life is. Is there anything we can do to "fix" the brokenness in us / the world?

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Purpose in life: to love and connect with others based on truth.
- The reality of the world is that we are all broken, no matter how hard we try to live a good life or try to be perfect.
- And there's always a part of us that longs to be fully known (even with all our brokenness) and fully loved.

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I was really into travelling as a college student and went to Brazil and Portugal and learned how to speak Portuguese. I thought if I lived an exciting life of travelling the world I would be happy

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When I went to Portugal, I got everything I wanted, but I actually felt very lonely, and I was surprised by the bad things I did while I was there by myself. I realized that changing my circumstances or surroundings doesn't change the kind of person I am. I realized I'm not actually that good of a person and need outside help to be the kind of person I want to be

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I came back having a more realistic picture of myself and I was open to the idea that I really need help because on my own I'm no good. That ultimately led to my decision to become a Christian

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I cared about the grades in my school most. My purpose was to receive good scores and entrance a good university and get a good occupation.

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I'm attending an exchange program in Texas now. I think my perspective of life become wider. I also could share many opinions with other students. I realized that there are diverse perspectives and try to respect them.