As I leave my student life, I am now thinking about my future and dreaming about having my own women’s magazine one day. I don’t have a name for it yet, so now it’s just “Magazine”.

Then I started thinking about my past.

I’ve always been interested in school, and made sure I got all my A’s, but I was never interested in curricular activities, especially sports. I would write, or sing in the choir, or be in the Interact Club which had no interactions with the outside world whatsoever, or be the President of Girl’s Scout. But one thing I was truly proud of was my ability to charm my way out of PE. From primary school all the way to A Levels, I’ve had my period every single week.

University is where I truly grew up and was forced to stand on my own two feet, with daddy’s money in my bank account. I’ve met all sorts of people in my life, and learned so many things (your whites and your colours cannot mix!).

I’ve learned that bad relationships are part of growing up, and you should cherish all your past ex-es for teaching you how to be stronger, and contributed something to what you’ve become now. I’ve learned that frienships cannot be forced and there are such friendships that drift apart when you no longer have nothing in common, and that it’s OK to let go without hard feelings. I’ve learned that money does not come easy and you cannot take shopping for granted, and credit card statements are not to make paper airplanes. I’ve learned that cooking is fun and you can know if the oil is hot by dripping drops of water in it and it goes ppscchttttt. I’ve learned to clean chicken properly and to slap beef steaks around the house to make it soft. I’ve learned that the toilet floor doesn’t just magically clean itself and you can’t cheat by just pushing all the dirt to one side. I’ve learned the art of pressing 10 long sleeve shirts which means putting the ironing board in front of the TV.

But most of all, I’ve learned that life gets pretty lonely without the people around you. You need to keep in contact with your parents everyday, you still need your sister to guide you, you still need your boyfriend to tell you you’re beautiful, and you still need your best friends to tell you your ass looks fat in those new jeans and you should return them pronto.

Yes you’re growing up and you may think you’ve got it going, but don’t let go of the little girl within you, who still needs to love and be loved. Once you do, there’ll be no more spark of innocence, and no one to remind you of the good childhood memories that built you today.

I used to be a Chinese boy

What makes me whole is my loved ones, and I have truly found solace with this amazing group of people I have now. If you’re reading this, I just want to say thank you for being in my life. 🙂