I landed a dream job after college, but it was in Seattle, far away from my close-knit family. I felt guilty leaving them behind.

"Unlike my friends at school, we did not have any extended family. There were no big Thanksgivings, hangouts with our cousins, or sleepovers at our grandparents' house. It was just us four, navigating the differences between the Western culture we lived in and the Eastern culture of our roots."

"All my life, my parents had encouraged me to go where the opportunity is. After all, that is what led them to America, where they were able to give their children the childhood they never had. In their eyes, if Seattle was where the opportunity was, that is where I should go."

Growing up in southern California as the eldest daughter of an immigrant family meant having only parents and a sister, with no extended family nearby. The family navigated between Western and Eastern cultures together. After college, the author received a dream job offer in Seattle. Despite the distance, parents encouraged the move, having themselves immigrated seeking opportunities. This relocation marked the first time leaving family behind. The decision to move proved valuable, allowing the author to discover independence while pursuing career aspirations, fulfilling the values parents had instilled about pursuing opportunity.

Read at Business Insider