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1/ My favorite story about my dad is he got into Peking University (the Harvard of China) but a corrupt communist official swapped his admission ticket w/ his daughter's admission ticket.
2/ My dad was sent to the state medical university instead, cashing his dreams of studying physics at Peking. The corrupt bureaucrat didn't even try to cover up the scandal and sent him to the women's dorm room originally assigned to his daughter.
3/ Faced with this crushing disappointment he could have either stayed in his poor countryside farming village and wait another 2 years to retake his college entrance exams. His brother had given up his spot to go to college to my dad so he felt obligated to take the offer.
4/ He arrived to med school almost a semester late and borrowed his roommate's textbooks to study over winter break. When it came in finals he scored in 1st and 2nd across his whole class.
5/ He always dreamed of going to Peking University to study aerospace engineering but his dreams were dashed b/c of the corrupt communist official. Instead he became an ear, neck, nose, and throat doctor.
6/ But he never gave up his love for physics combining it in his hearing science research, studying wave theory. He pursued science in addition to practicing medicine, receiving a WHO fellowship to conduct hearing research at the University of Michigan.
7/ His work has been published in Nature multiple times and he has created a paradigm shift in hearing research. My dad embodies childhood wonder. He spends his weekends tinkering with his laser interferometers and reviewing NIH grants b/c he likes giving back to grad students.
8/ My dad taught me that the world is not fair. You can either let injustices define you or choose to move on and find a way to become a more resilient person. The human spirit can do amazing things in the face of adversity.
9/ Cheers to all the immigrant dads who came here to this country without a silver spoon or a roadmap. You taught us about grit, tenacity, willpower, and hustle. We owe you everything. It's my time to make you proud and make generational quantum leaps in one lifetime.
Thanks to everyone's love for my dad's story! His biggest lesson is to create your own luck in the face of adversity. Luck
= preparation 
+ opportunity 
. You can increase your own luck surface area through hard work and preparation.
= preparation + opportunity . You can increase your own luck surface area through hard work and preparation.
