Thirty years ago, I arrived in Canada with two suitcases. Looking back, I realize they carried much more than my belongings—they carried a life that had yet to unfold.
On August 28, 1996, I landed at Montreal’s Mirabel Airport as a young international student from China, coming to Canada on a full scholarship to pursue a PhD in Computer Engineering. I could never have imagined that Canada would become my home for the next thirty years.
My journey has taken many turns—from PhD student to Defence Scientist with the federal government, and later into real estate and entrepreneurship. It has not been a straight road, but perhaps life was never meant to be one.
There have been achievements and regrets, good decisions and mistakes, smooth roads and difficult ones. When I was younger, I thought success meant a better education, a stronger career, a bigger business, and greater recognition. Today, I believe the most valuable things are much simpler: good health, family, true friends, meaningful work, and the freedom to choose how we live.
When I was young, I asked, “What can I accomplish?”
Today, I ask, “What do I truly want?”
I am grateful to Canada for welcoming me and giving me the opportunity to learn, build a career, raise a family, and reinvent myself many times. I am grateful for everyone I have met along the way—and also for that younger version of myself who had enough courage, dreams, and youthful fearlessness to board a plane for an unknown country.
Thirty years later, I am still looking forward.
For the next chapter, I want less busyness and more real living; less concern about what others think and more confidence in my own choices. I want to keep creating and exploring, while making more time for health, travel, family, meaningful partnerships, and things that leave lasting value.
May all of us continue to find wider roads ahead—and a life that becomes richer, happier, and more meaningful with time.
