Finally, destiny had taken me this far.

July 17th, 1999 - I was on a plane for the first time in my life. My heart was racing not because of my first time on the plane but because my new life that was about to begin in 24 hours.
Fear became was overwhelming since I was not sure if I had made the right decision. Nevertheless, I promised myself that no matter what would happen I would never come back until I achieved my goal not only the degree but the life adventure and worldview. I felt like I was a bird flying away from the comfort that I used to have. Looking out of the window, I was flying to the real world to explore, learn and grow up. I felt so very lonely but fulfilled. I started to miss my mom, family and friends. Tears were trying to race out of my eyes but I held it back.

Eventually, I landed in San Francisco around 8.00 pm. I found out that my apartment was on the Potero Hills that was very beautiful but very steep.

The day after I landed in San Francisco, I made a ton of phone calls searching for jobs. Life was not a rosy road. I landed the first job as a helper in the kitchen. My job description was to do everything that the female chef told me to do from cutting vegetables, putting chicken satay on sticks, cleaning pans and the floor to cooking appetizers. On the weekend, my second job was a cashier in the restaurant. However, in dog eat dog’s society where everyone tries to survive and takes advantage of each other whenever they find opportunities, I got paid just 4 dollars an hour and I had to be in the situation that everyone was so faked and ready to tear my flesh if I was not aware. They would stab me on the back if I ever turned my back on them. I almost had enough of it.

Since I did not have a deep pocket and did not want to waste my time, I determined to have myself admitted to the University in the coming spring semester. That means I had just 3-4 months to prepare for the TOEFL and GMAT score. Since I’d never studied both TOEFL and GMAT before, I was so afraid of not having those required score in time to be admitted in spring, particularly, GMAT. I hardly had time to study because I worked seven days a week and went to school in the night, the only time I had was mostly when I was on the bus.

Finally, within 3 months, my effort paid off. I got a high TOEFL score and enough GMAT scores that both universities: San Francisco State University and University of Massachusetts at Boston that I applied accepted me. I chose two schools because they were public schools that I could afford. They both located in the big city that I could travel by the mass transportation and I assumed they must have plenty of jobs for me to support myself until I graduated.

Again, destiny helped me make my decision. It was a coincidence that I had a big fight with my roommate and was about to be a homeless in San Francisco. I still remember the day that I moved my two huge pieces of luggage and some bags out of the house, and onto the street by myself. Then I ran up and down those hills just to make a phone call to a taxi, and then run back to watch my things that were left on the street curb.

I loved San Francisco and I still do. It is such a beautiful city with grace and style. Unfortunately, I thought I had enough bad experience with people here and I was so fed up with it. I decided to move to another city that was on another side of the country- Boston. Again, it was a big risk for me to take because I just knew a couple people there who I was not that closed. But when the defeat was not my option, I moved forward and would never stop until I smelt the beautiful scent of success.