The morning sun would often cast a warm and soft glow on the old, worn photographs adorning the walls of my childhood home, with each frame telling its own tale and serving as a testament to the values that were instilled in me by my parents. My parents, with their faces weathered by years of sacrifice and struggle, never stopped reminding me of the importance of perseverance and integrity.
As I grew up in a small and tight-knit immigrant community, I would often bear witness to the numerous struggles my parents faced. My father would work long hours in a factory and my mother would do various odd jobs ranging from cleaning houses to sewing clothes. They never had the time to rest, but despite it all, they never shirked from their responsibility and commitment to provide for the family.
From an early age, I understood that success came not from achieving a goal but from the resilience that was required to achieve it, the various small victories that came along the way as well as the will to never give up.
Whenever I'd be in doubt, I would look back on the many lessons that I had learned during my upbringing, that success was far more than a destination, that it's more about the journey that builds powerful traits such as diligence, empathy, and connection.
In my journey, I have met many who went through a similar struggle, and through them, I realized that all of us are part of one larger story built from hard work, tenacity, and the drive to create a greater future.