An Open Letter to My Family

Dear family

Once upon a time, there was a little girl who hated wearing jeans, loved animals more than anything, and dreamed of travelling the world everyday. She would look at maps of the world and wonder when she could go to the places that seemed only finger lengths away on the map, but where she knew was truly thousands of miles away. This little girl would sit on the edge of her seat listening to the stories her grandmother would tell of travelling to Russia, the tales her mother and godmother had from their time in Africa, the magical fairytale her aunt told about her 16th birthday in London, and her father’s stories about driving through Germany and the rest of Europe.

Soon, this little girl, no more than five feet tall, started to grow up. As she entered high school and began taking Mandarin, Chinese, she wondered if the day would ever come when she could actually go to China and use the language and experience the culture. At night, when she couldn’t sleep, she would go on United Airlines’ website and search for flights to Taipei, Seoul, or Barcelona. She dreamed and dreamed, but was never really sure when she would make it to these beautiful and mysterious countries. She was content with her day dreams, but she always yearned for the day that she would be able to get herself there.

Then, in the summer of 2011, a miracle happened. Thanks to her generous, wonderful, and loving family, she had the privilege of  flying across the world to China. That summer, she got to taste what it was like to travel and what it was like to experience something entirely new; a culture so different, she was sometimes overwhelmed, but always excited. She knew, when she touched down in Chicago after 10 days in a country that would take up a special place in her heart, that she would forever be fighting off wanderlust.

Now, a little over three years later, this little girl is all grown up and is sitting at a desk in Rome thinking about how she got here.

I knew from the beginning that my family was incredible. We have been through good times and bad times together, and I know we have only grown stronger. It is all thanks to them that I was able to fulfil my major life long dream of studying abroad. I could not have done this without their constant support of every kind and never ending belief in me.

I am so grateful for all I have been blessed with that it is extremely hard to put it into words. Everything that I have been given, all the opportunities that I have had here that I know not everyone will get to experience, all of the love that I have been given every day of my life, it is all thanks to them. I have been given so much more than I could ever ask for, and I owe it all to my personal cheerleaders, my own collection of people who have loved me through my good moments and my bad ones.

So, thank you to my mother and my father! Thank you to my brother and my sister! Thank you to My godmother, my grandmother, and my aunt! Thank you to my cousins and my other aunts and uncles who have supported me!

I do not know how I could ever repay all of you for the impossible amount of priceless gifts you have given me, but I will try every day to show you how grateful I am and how much I have grown as a person because of you all. Every step of the way, I wished all of you could be there with me.

Thank you so, so much for giving me something so incredible, most would say it’s impossible: thank you so much for giving me the world!