What is my story, you ask?

Not one that can be covered by a mask.

It involves venturing into the dark ocean

Looking towards a better future with devotion.

The story begins as I crossed eerie waters

When I was only a six year old daughter

I looked for the creatures of the sea that loomed around my boat

As I sat there curious and afloat.

I landed on an island

One not ruled by a tyrant

It was a new country full of foreign faces.

A new home known as an oasis.

I appreciated what was offered

So in the future my family wouldn’t suffer.

I kept my grades above average

Because I knew that on my shoulders there was a baggage

I looked for what I now cherish

A career that would not easily perish.

One that was unique

One that would help me reach my peak

For my heart settled on Asian Studies

A major full of strange theories

It came for me a day I was unusually depressed.

A day my life changed, who could’ve guessed.

The strange theories came as a test of identity

A simple who am I, and then serenity.

I knew I wanted to explore this surreal world

So the train arrived and I climbed aboard.

I found wonderful history

I found wondrous mystery

To me, it was a peculiar sounding language

That would later become my anchorage

Faces that looked unfamiliar

At first they all looked similar

Then they weren’t foreign looking anymore

They became people I now adore.

But Asian Studies doesn’t begin to describe me

I’m a Sagittarius with many layers, you see.

I join my hobby with my major

Making my studying not a labor.

My hobby of dance

Gave me a chance

To combine and learn their dance

A dance that puts you in a trance

But not only do I learn of the traditional

I learn of the transitional

Of how KPOP is world wide

A music genre that helped me decide

Of how a hobby and career can be combined

As if fate had it assigned

Watching a traditional tea ceremony was all it took

To make my decision a closed book.

For it was Japan and my love for anime and manga

That made me sit on my veranda

Sometimes for many days

Sitting there in daze

For I had to make sure my future was resolved

For I had to make sure I had evolved

At first I was afraid

At first I strayed

Filled with doubt

I needed to become a root that would survive in a drought

Then I decided

I felt as if I was guided

So I told myself to decide on a future full of unusualness

One that might be full of scrupulousness

Even if certain uncertainty is bound to come my way

For it is a path that could lead you astray

But it isn’t for me

For it has been the key

To countless closed doors

Since the young years of my identity wars.