Three weeks ago, I met someone. Just in time for graduation, my eyes were opened to a new level of happiness that I could have never imagined.
For the past year, I have been seeking something that would make me happy. Little did I know, there was something, someone, that had been there all along. Someone I had been overlooking. Whether related to a relationship or a career, I have been chasing this “ideal” that society built for me, a socially constructed ideal, if you will. While I was chasing this ideal, I denied who I was and my passions along with it, but then, in a class with Dr. Cynthia McClintock, I found her.
I wanted to take both the LSAT and the GMAT because I thought that law school and business school would direct me toward a stable, socially acceptable career.
She is passionate about Latin America and China, and wants nothing more than to work to strengthen the China-Latin America relationship. Her love for Latin America and her roots in China perfectly meshed together.
I chased after jobs with consulting firms thinking that I would be happy with a ridiculously high salary and crazy hours. I thought I wanted to work for marketing companies and join their creative teams to make the best ads.
She knew that to chase after opportunities working to ameliorate the relations between the two parties would make her happy, really, really, happy. For her, this passion has been there all along and it made absolute sense. In this class, she found a place where external factors and society could not direct her path. She looked within herself, to find what was already there, what has always been there.
Three weeks ago, I took off my blinders. I looked outside the overwhelming socially constructed ideals I had used to shape my ambitions and interpret my passions.
Three weeks ago, I met someone who could make me happy.
Just in time for graduation, I realized that someone is me. I have decided that after my post-grad travels, I will return to Washington, D.C. to find a job that aligns with my passions: bridging the gap between Latin America and China. Whatever I must do, I will because I will never let myself be unaware of what makes me happy, again.
Metaphors aside, I really did meet someone three weeks ago… it has been one of the scariest experiences of my life, to be so vulnerable, but I am the happiest I have ever been.
So if you hear of any Latin America-China opportunities, I would appreciate it if you could pass it along. I will be looking for openings in Washington, D.C. but also in Latin America and China starting this July.
Kathy K. Lui
@kathyklui
[email protected]
Washington, D.C.