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It’s true that I was a nerd then, and I am a nerd now. The only difference is that I used to flee what I was, but now I embrace it. Indeed, I reconciled myself to what I am long ago.

My siblings are not like me. They have achieved great worldly success. My eldest brother is one of the top planning lawyers in the country. My middle brother is a Foreign Office diplomat working overseas. My sister has a PhD and works at a highranking British university.

I’m not actually the dunce everyone thought I was, though. I studied at an institute of the University of London, ranked in the top 25 of British universities. I later obtained a MPhil from a university ranked in the top 50. It’s just that my education never really helped me get ahead, because I have always lacked self-confidence. I’m an introverted nerd, you see.

Were it not for my personality, I am sure I could have gone far in terms of career progression and social status. I could have pursued all of that, had I not been bestowed with these character traits. But it was not to be. No matter; I am content with my station in life.

Years ago, I hated what and how I was. I hated that I could not flee it. I hated that this was how I was judged by all around me, before I even had a chance to open my mouth and represent myself. But I now know there was wisdom in that. I now know that I was being prepared to walk a different path with a different set of companions.

For sure, I definitely wouldn’t have come this way and walked this path had my personality been different. Though once I was distraught by all I experienced, now I embrace it. I could never have joined that world I left behind.