I've always wanted to be an artist since I was a child, even though my interests had swayed from one thing to another growing up. I spent my childhood in Taiwan where being an artist with that generation was discouraged, for lack of better reason - art had no prosperity. Even though my raw talent in it was evident to most, to fit in the society's measurement of success was the priority in my family.
"Boys are better than girls".....that's the message you received everywhere growing up in Taiwan. My mom had 5 girls, and that was partly the reason why she was looked down on within my dad's family, and among other superficial reasons being deemed as "less" in the society. As a child I've seen injustice, prejudice, racism and discrimination up close and personal, naturally my experiences pushed me to live by "I'll prove girls are better and make you(my parents) proud". And that sentiment put me on the road of an overachiever who was always trying to prove her worth.
I have always excelled in school academically, because that was the one thing I believed I had control of making my parents proud. I was accepted to pursue Architecture at Berkeley but went for Business School at USC instead.....because my father's wish was that one day I would carry his torch as a businesswoman.
I ended up in Information Technology field, climbed my career ladder really well, so well it was almost 20 years later I gave up my career to preserve the most primitive gift in me.