What are your childhood dreams?

After watching the last lecture by Randy, I started to ask myself what are my childhood dreams? Have I fulfilled them?

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When I was in primary school, my grades were so bad that my mum told me (I was 9 years old) that I had to complete at least my primary school education so that I could get a job in a factory as a production worker. And because of our very difficult financial situation, my mother had to join the workforce in her mid-thirties as a production worker. For a while, my dream was really to become a production worker.

This dream was never realized. I have never worked in a production line before (fortunately or unfortunately).

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When I was in secondary school, my dream was to be admitted to University. It was really a faraway dream for me. And coming from a lousy school, I used to feel inferior when I met students from good reputable schools. I used to think that they knew more than me until I participated in the National Mathematics Olympiad and was ranked 100+ among the top 2000 students in Singapore, which put me in the top 1% percentile nationally for Mathematics. I was the only student in my whole (lousy) school to receive such recognition two years in a row.

This dream was realized when I completed my University education.

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When I was in junior college, my dream was to go overseas for university education. I did well for my first year exam and was selected to be part of the Scholars' club in the school. I also did well for my A levels exam (not straight As), but good enough to be invited for Overseas Scholarship Interviews. Unfortunately (fortunately) after receiving all the rejection letters, I sank into mild depression, as I knew I would never have opportunity to study abroad. I was offered a local scholarship, but I did not accept it.

This dream was realized when I spent one year working in the San Francisco Bay Area and was taking courses at Stanford University. That was the best year of my life.

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There are still many dreams of mine that I didn't realize (yet).

Working in Wall Street, Living in London, Becoming a Fund Manager, Financial Freedom, Setting up a Charity Foundation, Teaching in a Rural School in Himalayas etc...

My Life is far from perfect, but I come a long way.

From a dream of becoming a production worker to studying at Stanford University.

I am already very fortunate and lucky. 

Sometimes, I was frustrated that my fullest potential was not realized yet.

But looking back, (fortunately, I started from a low base) I am already very thankful and grateful for all the blessings.

I may not fulfill ALL my dreams, but I take solace in the fact that some of my dreams have been fulfilled and I am taking incremental steps towards fulfilling my new dreams. I will never succeed, as new dreams kept surfacing. I may not be successful, but at least I tried. 

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Tibetan Kids

(Taken on 2005 at Xiahe, Gansu Province, China)

These adorable kids were collecting recyclable items on the street to sell. When I gave them some sweets, they were really happy and started to pose for me. 

Looking at them, I knew that Life is never fair.

Why are they on the street when they should be school?

What are the dreams of these children?