My second high school

My family moved from a condominium to a house in the middle of my junior year. My parents considered it a major milestone in their lives.  My father felt proud, he was finally able to give his family a “real” house.  

I did not share in that joy.  It was the third time I moved.  My feelings toward the upgrade were neutral.  I was not sad about it, but I was not excited either. 
 
Having to say goodbye to my friends was not an issue.  After all, people grow up and move away.  It is just part of life.  What bothered me was the difference in curriculums.  

My new counselor changed my classes around so I could integrate into their program.  It was already the second week of class.  Some classes were full, I did not have many options.  Mathematics posed the biggest problem.  I was in an accelerated math class in my first high school.  I took Algebra 2 in the first semester.  I was supposed to go on to Trignometry and Pre-Calculas in the second semester.  My new high school had no such program.  My counselor decided, for the ease of making my classes fit together, to put me in Pre-Calculas, skipping Trignometry.   I was, however, given a Trignometry textbook to home-study. 

When I complained to my parents about it, all they said was, "What was done was done.  There is nothing you can do about it.  Change is part of life, you have to learn to adapt.  How can you make it in life if you cannot learn to adjust to changes?  A person must be flexible to survive in the real world."  Essentially, deal with it.

Oh well, such is life.  I dealt with it the best I could.  Mathematics was not my strong subject to begin with, as much as I tried, I still landed my first "C" in high school (okay, not counting P.E.).

I met a few Chinese girls in my new school.  They immigrated to the States during their teenage years, just like me.  Peer pressure was not something I had to deal with, not in my first high school, nor this school. Our conversations circled around school, classes, college, and the occasional flashback to our lives in Asia.  I started to wonder about my future.  

My mom always told me if I did not want to pursue higher education, I was free to go into whatever field I wanted to.  I would then, however, be responsible for my own livelihood.  It was my life, my decision, my consequences.  Deep down inside though, my Chinese upbringing told me that being responsible for oneself was not good enough.  Filial piety meant I had to have means of taking care of my parents in their golden years.  

I knew I did not have any special skills or talent.  I was not particularly good in art, sports, or crafts.  Education was the only way for me to live up to my obligations.  So I started looking into my options for college. 

No one in my family had graduated college, much less high school.   My parents said there was nothing they could do for me other than supporting me financially.  They told me to ask my classmates/friends/teachers if I had any questions on "college stuff."  Bottom line was, my future, my responsibility.