The 1.5 Journey

I’m grateful to everyone who has been a part of my 1.5-generation journey and helped me along the way.

To the classmates who invited me to sit at their lunch table when I was in seventh grade, thank you for making me feel welcome when I was still trying to figure out where I belonged.

To my middle school art teacher, thank you for patiently going over the lessons with me again and again.

To my English teacher in tenth grade, thank you for comforting me when I broke down in tears over a writing test.

To my English 101 professor during my freshman year of college, thank you for telling me that you genuinely didn’t think I needed to switch classes when I was considering moving from English 101 to English for FLE (Foreign Language English). You believed that I could do it, even when I wasn’t sure I could.

Thank you to my Japanese professor in college. Whenever I forgot how to pronounce a kanji during an exam, you would always give me a little hint. You knew that because I could read and write Chinese, the kanji themselves weren’t particularly difficult for me. I could usually write them without a problem—I just occasionally forgot how to pronounce them in Japanese.

To the president of the North America Taiwanese Students’ Association who invited me to become the administrative officer during my junior year of college, thank you for giving me an opportunity to slowly rebuild my confidence in myself.

To the students who supported me and enjoyed my classes when I was teaching English in Taiwan, thank you for reminding me that I really could be a good teacher.

To the supervisor and mentor who believed in me, guided me, and supported me when I got my first linguistics-related job in Silicon Valley, thank you for giving me an opportunity to discover a new path.

To my cousin, who grew up alongside me while we were being raised by our grandmother during our preschool years, thank you for always supporting me, even though we have spent most of our lives living far apart.

And to everyone I have ever angered or hurt because of my own biases, thank you as well. You gave me reasons to look back at myself and reflect—to reconsider my words, my attitude, and some of the things I once believed so strongly.

Looking back, I realize that I did not get here entirely on my own.

At different points in my life, each of you gave me a little bit of courage, a little bit of confidence, a little bit of understanding, or simply another reason to keep moving forward.

You helped make me who I am today.

---

我想謝謝所有在我成長過程中曾經幫助過我的人。

謝謝七年級時，願意讓我加入你們午餐桌的同學們；謝謝國中的美術老師，每一次都耐心地重新為我講解課程；謝謝十年級的英文老師，在我因為 writing test 崩潰落淚時給我的安慰。

謝謝大一的英文老師。當我因為擔心自己跟不上，而考慮從 English 101 轉去 English for FLE(Foreign Language English) 時，是妳告訴我，妳真心覺得我不一定需要轉課，因為妳相信 I can do it.

謝謝大學的日文教授。每次考試時，只要我忘記漢字怎麼念，你總會給我一點小提示。你知道我會中文讀寫，所以那些漢字對我來說並不難，我通常都寫得出來，只是偶爾會忘記它們在日文裡怎麼發音而已。

謝謝大三時邀請我擔任學生會幹部的學生會會長。是你讓我開始慢慢找回對自己的信心。

謝謝我在台灣教英文時，那些願意支持我、喜歡上我的課的學生們。你們讓我知道，原來我真的可以成為一個好老師。

謝謝我在矽谷得到第一份語言學相關工作時，願意相信我、帶領我、支持我的主管/mentor。

謝謝從小和我一起被外婆帶大、雖然我們幾乎一直相隔兩地，卻始終支持我的大表妹。

也謝謝那些曾經因為我的偏見而被我惹怒、傷害，或讓我開始反省自己的人。因為你們，我才開始學著回頭看自己，重新思考自己的言語、態度與那些我曾經深信不疑的想法。

回頭看，我才發現，我之所以成為現在的我，從來都不是靠自己一個人走到這裡。

是你們在不同的時刻，給了我一點點勇氣、一點點信心、一點點理解，也給了我繼續往前走的理由。

有了你們，才成就了現在的我。