My Life Only Possible Through Sacrifice

       At five in the morning, when the air is still cold, my mom tiptoes out of bed quietly so she does not wake me up, grabs her laptop, and drives away to work on the empty streets. She goes to work early, so she can arrive home earlier and spend more time with me. My mom has worked so hard to get this job. When she entered this country, she didn’t even know how to spell “cake.” At the public library, my mother could not understand a conversation a threeyearold had with his mom. She thought to herself, “What can I do in this land if I’m not as good as a threeyearold?” In this new world, in a way, she was blind, deaf, and mute. However, even though my mom faced financial struggles, she persevered and vowed to improve her position in society. She worked as a hotel maid to pay for her graduate school education, and was always sore after cleaning messy rooms everyday. To save money, my mom walked instead of taking the bus. While walking, she reviewed English words. She studied English anytime, anywhere, even while using the restroom.

My parents prioritize their tasks, neglecting many of their pleasures so I can fulfill my goals. To spend as much time as possible with me, they rarely watch television or go on dates. “Our idea of a perfect date is doing housework together,” my parents say. However, they have never complained about their sacrifices. Instead, they compliment and encourage me with bright smiles. Though sometimes my parents do not agree with my passions, such as spreading drug awareness, they will always support me. Because of their support, I have been able to make my ambitions a reality, such as when I held the first drug awareness week at my school, a movement called “Go Project Purple.”

One day that week, my mom was late from coming home. When she finally walked into the house, she carried bundles of purple flowers on her shoulder. The bundles were about three times the size of her head. She sacrificed her own lunch and dinner break, drove to every store in the Bay Area and bought all the purple flowers from the shelves. Just for me. Just for my passion. She handed them to me with a smile saying, “Go for it.”

My parents’ picking up the task of getting me a good education means more to me than I could ever show. For every class I have wanted to take, it seems as if my parents do not even look at the price before writing a check. I often wonder how my parents feel about spending so much money for me. When I flinch at seeing my dad’s credit card statement, I wonder if my parents are flinching as well. “It’s an investment,” they tell me.

From the country they come from, China, only one child per family is allowed. If my parents had not moved out of the country, and worked hard to land here, I would not exist. Now that they have given me the opportunity of living on this Earth, and work so hard for my life to be meaningful, I know that I will acknowledge and appreciate everything they’ve done for me, as well as work just as hard to make my life meaningful as well. I will make sure that in the end, my parents’ struggles of creating a new life in a new world and helping me follow my dreams will be worth it.