Each of us has a story. Behind our story are the stories of those who support us: our family, our friends, our teachers, people who have been kind to us and people who’ve challenged us.
One of the key people behind my story is my grandma. If you don’t mind, I’d love to share a short summary of her story.
Born in 1927, she survived Japanese occupation of her village and immigrated to the USA with nothing after World War II. She worked as a seamstress and raised five kids. Saved and invested every penny while supporting family in China and sponsoring their immigration when she could.
Despite her lack of formal schooling, she instilled the value of education, hard work and fairness among her children and grandchildren, who went on to study at Harvard, Yale, and University of Chicago among other schools. She became the best investor of her highly educated family. She gave everything she had to her loved ones. Lived to the ripe age of 93 but in more ordinary times probably would’ve had many more years to give. She and grandpa also inspired me to strive for Harvard when everyone else in my immediate family gave up on me.
Growing up, I was challenged with a video game addiction, bad habits, laziness, my parents’ divorce, people giving up on me. But my grandfather and grandmother never gave up on me. Despite all the difficulties they had growing up (my grandfather fought in World War II and worked all his life as a waiter and storeowner), they never made any excuses for their position. Through force of will, persistence, strategic thinking, they wrote their Book of Life in a way that changed their lives and the lives of everyone they supported.
When we’re young, we might not appreciate enough the people who have come before us. The people who survived unimaginable challenges, trials and tribulations. It’s easy to just focus on our own world, on our own challenges.
But we need to think about the bigger picture, which in this article I will call “The Book of Life.” The Book of Life is the most amazing, tragic, hopeful, inspiring, dispiriting, aggravating, humbling story -- filled with examples of people like my grandma.
The lesson we can learn from those who came before us is that The Book of Life is never finished. It is constantly evolving and changing. For our part, we are responsible for how our section is written. Will it be a story of overcoming challenges, or succumbing to them? Will our stories be inspiring, or tragic? Will our stories lift up the people around us, or will we be a burden and drag people down?
Your book of life is not over. In fact, for many of you, your Book of Life is still in the beginning. What you may not realize is how much power you have over how your own story unfolds. You may think that you are a passenger to greater forces. “My SAT score limits me.” or “I don’t have enough time to do everything.”
Instead, what you need to realize is that you are a driver. You are choosing the course of your life right now. If your time is taken up by social media, video games, or other distractions, that is how your story will be written.
But imagine the hero of our favorite stores. Despite long odds, and tough challenges, they persevere. The heroes in our greatest stories aren’t distracted by video games or small things in life. No, they are focused on saving the world! This doesn’t mean they can’t have fun -- but it also means that important things in life require sacrifice, and focus.
I want to ask you, how will your story be written? What effect will your story have on other stories around you? Are you a hero that gives up with the slightest challenge, or will you persevere despite challenging circumstances?
Our favorite stories would be really sad, if after having a hard time, the main character just gave up.
One way to think of the college application is that it is simply sharing your Book of Life. Is it a story of triumph, collaboration, growth, and inspiration? Or is it one that is nice, but mostly conventional? Is it a story of you pushing yourself to the fullest potential, or of someone who might be wasting too much time?
Whatever the truth is, it is never too late to change.
In fact, many of the best stories are filled with twists and turns, because the world can be unpredictable and because our story is controlled by us and our decisions, which can also change at any moment.
I sincerely encourage you, if you haven’t already, to take responsibility and control of your Book of Life. Learn from the stories around you, and work with people who can help you improve your Book of Life with lessons learned from theirs.