My Journey

Hello and welcome to my blog. I thought long and hard about what to write as my first post. I find the first few words you say make a difference in defining who you are so I wanted to make the right statement. Mulling over my choices I realised there is no better way to state who you are than to actually do it. So for my first post I would like to share with you a bit of my story,  what this blog means to me and my hopes on how it would help you.

I was born in Taiwan to hard-working and loving parents. With two older brothers, I was the baby of the family. Growing up in an Asian country can be really hard. Everyone is competitive and often it is about excelling academic-wise as well as in the numerous extracurricular activities you are expected to pick up. Despite the pressure I felt around me I still count myself lucky because I had older brothers to share in my parents’ attention. I believe because I was the youngest I was allowed more freedom than my older siblings. This gave me a lot more time to immerse myself in the wondrous world of fiction stories. I loved to read as a child. I read anything I could get my hands on and I was lucky my parents were able to afford a mini library for my brothers and I. They ranged from Chinese myth and legends to Western fairy tales and to children’s encyclopedias.

My love of writing didn’t begin until we emigrated from Taiwan to New Zealand. The Western teaching style is drastically different but it was exactly what I needed to flourish. I was a quiet child and rarely voiced my opinions, partly due to cultural influences and because I was the youngest in the family. Being in New Zealand changed all that. Of course I did not change overnight. It took time for me to adjust and to find myself. The language barrier made it difficult but I was lucky to have many friends that did not care. I picked up English very fast. The treasure trove in the school’s library and the vast amount of story times at school helped a great deal. However, the speed at which I was picking up the language did not help each time the teachers asked us to write a story or a reflective report on the recent field trip we had. I remember being mortified at each writing session, struggling to form a cohesive sentence to express myself. If it was not for the two incidences in my life that changed how I felt about writing, I would not be here talking to you, aspiring to be a writer.

The first case of which I can pinpoint was during my first year in a New Zealand primary school. My class just had a field trip to the air force museum and I managed to scrape some sentences together to form a coherent story. I think my teacher must have been very surprised because the next thing I knew I was whisked off to the principal’s office to read the story to him. He was very impressed too, and he gave me a pencil and an orca rubber to commemorate the event. At the time I was incredulous to what had just transpired, after all back in Taiwan you only ever go to the principal’s office if you had done something wrong.

The second incident happened when I was in intermediate. We were writing a short report on the recent science exhibition we had visited. I remember I wrote something about jaguars. My teacher read it out to the class and asked if we could take a guess on who wrote it. Everyone guessed it was the boy who was known to be quite a writer. Murmurs went around when the teacher revealed it was me. I still remember how proud I was to be considered on his level, even if it was for that one writing. Since then my love and confidence for writing grew and it hasn’t stopped.

Flash forward a few years, I made my way to university and graduated with one degree and started on my second degree – pharmacy. I have always excelled academically and naturally being Asian I was directed down the path of a health professional. It was the most financially stable option. At the time I was still unsure on what sort of future I wanted for myself. I was stuck between two worlds. One where the traditional view dictates a stable and safe career option and another suggesting endless possibilities out in the world. I did fight with my parents but in the end I conceded because their way was the sensible option. I unexpectedly fell in love with pharmacy. It gave me the knowledge I was craving for and opened up numerous opportunities for me. It also made me realise the lack of knowledge we had about alternative therapies and for some reason I was drawn to it. That is why I am currently studying herbalism to accompany my knowledge of modern medicine.

I love to help others and provide them with advice. It makes me feel like I am giving back to the world. Working as a pharmacist has given me the opportunity to do just that. As gratifying as the job is I cannot forget my true passion – writing. Years ago I also made myself a promise. I promised that I would return to focus on my writing once I had obtained the necessary qualifications to support my living. So here I am, staying true to myself, starting my own blog. This blog is the embodiment of my hope and dreams. I have set out many sections giving an overview of the areas I intend to cover. I hope to share the knowledge and experiences I have gained over the years with you and I hope you will enjoy reading them.

Please do not hesitate to leave me a comment if you have any questions or suggestions.

Thank you for taking your time to read this blog.

Live. Love. Laugh. Liberate.

– Avis Knows