Dear Mom and Dad,

When I was young, you traveled to the most difficult regions for the family business—Iran, North Korea, Viet Nam, Thailand, and Indonesia. Watching you encouraged me to be brave and take challenges. I flew to Vancouver and Los Angeles alone at age 11 for month-long summer school sessions. I cried myself to sleep for the first few days in LA and called you guys saying I wanted to go home. But soon, I loved the adventure and urged you to always let me attend summer schools overseas. The following year it was to Austria for a summer music program and at age 15, I was in New York Queens at summer school during the Blackout of 2003. Thank you for giving me the confidence to explore new cultures.

Dear Grandma,

You always told me to not spend all my pocket money away. You told me “A penny saved is a penny earned.” My first investment was at age 12, and I loved watching my money grow. So far my returns on stock market range from 30~50% and include Apple, Google, Bidu, and Micron—I researched extensively and applied my financial analytical skills as a CPA and an auditor to choose these investments. Thank you for teaching me the value of investing.

Dear Professor Andrews,

Thank you for picking on me and giving me a hard time in Business Com-munication class. If it were not for you, I would never have broken my comfort zone to speak publicly in English. You told me that my English is great and encouraged me to speak up—giving me chances in class. Today, I am teaching English to kids in rural Taiwan on the weekends. I tell them what you told me—don’t be shy, and speaking up will make it better!

Dear Judy and Vivian,

When I first graduated from high school in Taiwan, I joined USC’s orientation in Taipei. You guys helped me get settled at school and were always so enthusiastic. I was anxious at first, but with your help I got on track. After I started school at USC, I immediately followed you guys to join Chinese Student Association and do community service. Your commitment to give back served as my motivation to run for Community Chair at USC, in hopes of making a greater impact at the school. Now I still enjoy making an impact in the community—I volun-teered to lead a 20-person committee and a 105-person volunteer at PwC to plant trees for a social welfare foundation’s children shelter. Thank you for giving me that passion.

Dear classmates in junior high,

You gave me a chance to satisfy my desire to be unique. Most of you girls played violins, flutes, oboes, or clarinets. I just wanted to be different, so I chose the trombone. Thank you guys for always asking me to perform in front of class; it helped me gain confidence to perform in front of crowds and be com-fortable laughing at myself. I know you guys thought it was fun watching a girl playing a masculine instrument, and I enjoyed expressing my musical talent. Today, although I didn’t become a comedian you teased me about, I still manage to make people around me laugh when I talked about my trombone playing days.