Life is very mysterious and somehow predestined. It is full of twists and turns that we do not know what is lying ahead. The best thing we can do is to follow those twists and turns with our faith as a compass.

My life began on a beautiful Friday; the day that the smell of the New Year celebration was still in the air. While most of people in Bangkok were still celebrating, my mother was in labor for 8 hours straight with very little help from any professional nurse.

My world, when I was young, was so tiny. I had no idea what was outside the route between my school and my house. But my dreams were big, I always imagined that one day I would have a chance to step out and explore this beautiful world.

It was in high school that I had a first trip to Hua Hin in Prajuabkirikun and that literally opened my world. The turquoise sea, blue sky and silky beaches had awakened my adventurous mind. I found that there were a lot of things out there in this world awaiting my discovery.

My traveling passion grew dramatically when I was in Thammasat University. I made countless trips around the country. I traveled to the freezing cold mountains at Phu Chee Fah, and Phu Kradeung in northern Thailand. Then down to the breezy hot beaches at the isolated islands Kao Tarutoa, Kao Tao-Nangyuan, and others in the southern part of Thailand.

The more places I visited, the greater love for the beauty and purity of nature I had. I fell in love with the world and I knew right then that I would like to put my footsteps on every part of the world. My love for nature and my frequent volunteering with the environmental groups in my university made me realize that I wanted to be an environmentalist and I believe that we should not take our mother nature’s generosity for granted.

After I graduated from the college, I started working in one of the most reputable companies in Thailand. My career was going well but as I always say, life is like a destiny, something unexpected lies ahead of us but we just do not see it. My real long journey began in one evening.

One of my best friends approached me with her dream of going to the United States to work and study at the same time. Just one evening and short conversation, it had sparked my dream. Although to go to the United States was not an easy dream, I remembered someone said, “The poorest man is not a man with a dime but a man without a dream.”

Sometimes the destiny leads our life to a place that we might not expect. I accidentally ran into my old friends who happened to have the same ideas. We started looking for information and any possible option that we could find in order to make our dream of going to the US come true.

With our hard works, eventually, I got admitted at the San Francisco Language School. I decided to tell my family and friends. Everybody protested that I was about to leave my stable job at Siam Cement Groups, in particular, when the economy was heading downhill and a lot of people were getting laid off.

However, when I have a dream, I always hold on to it. I hold it so tight that sometimes it almost chokes me. I decided to leave my job, family and friends to pursue my dream. I knew the pursuit of my dream would not be easy. It would be tough and painful but I knew I would be able to achieve it.

I packed my stuff and dream. I left everything behind. It would be my first time that I would ever travel out of the country. I knew it’s a big risk but I do believe that no success will ever be accomplished without taking any risk.

I said goodbye to everyone I loved and Thailand…