My Personal Mission Statement

What is your mission statement?

If you tell me something in English, I’ll convert it to my native Shanghai dialect. But if you tell me something in my native Shanghai dialect, I’ll convert it English. I’m a lover of laughter, an advocate of academia, a supporter of Seattle sports teams. I’m Chinese by birth, American by address, and both in my heart. If I reach out my hand, meet me halfway. But if you don’t, don’t be surprised if I reach all the way across the aisle. We can call it bipartisanship! If I step out of my UFO, don’t be afraid, for I come in peace.

I’m a tennis player, a pianist, a saxophonist, a technophile, and much more. Ask about my hobbies and you will find that they are as diverse as an incoming college freshman class. I’m a student by day and an options trader by night. Well, sometimes I trade options at school too; after all, I have to be caught up with the markets right? If you are interested, I can tell you about market volatility, time decay, and various call and put spreads. Finance is a passion of mine — if I pursue investment banking, one day, it might be my career.

At any given moment, I’m driven by more than Red Bull. I’m driven by my dreams, my goals, my modus operandi. My cognitive abilities unfortunately seem to take vacation at the most inopportune moments, but they’re always frustratingly awake past curfew.

I serve as a friend to all, a foe to none. I’m plugged into the modern world; find me on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Skype, Instagram, etc. But don’t expect me to take my notes on an iPad, because I carry around my trusty legal pad instead; it’s simply the greatest invention since sliced bread.

I’ve been swept away to Rome, Tokyo, Cancun, Zurich, Budapest, and Bora Bora, although admittedly, not all in real life. Maybe one day though, my love for travel will take me there. But today, I look to find my purpose in a world run by 1’s and 0’s, with machines that only understand phrases like “system.out.println“Hello World!”” (That would output “Hello World!” on a computer, by the way).

Since I live in Seattle, legend says it’s almost guaranteed I will wake up every morning to gloomy weather, but I choose to make my own sunshine instead. After all, Mother Nature kindly ensures that cloudy days only stay so long before they give way to brighter days. I can be that beacon, that lighthouse for ships lost in the stormy waves. Come, and I will guide companions towards the iridescent mix of hope, inspiration, and transfixing joy they seek.

I’ve been blessed to be a winner — in what Warren Buffett calls the “Ovarian Lottery” — in my lifetime. It’s my turn to ensure others are too.

I live my life with a burning desire to leave something behind. “With heart, integrity, and passion, my mission is to love, lead, inspire.”