15. A Life Full of Gratitude

Growing up, my family wasn’t well-off, and life was rarely smooth sailing. Without financial support, your choices become very limited. Yet even in such an environment, I never strayed off course. In fact, you could say my journey growing up was quite smooth, even though it was much harder than for those from resource-rich, middle-class families.

My parents worked tirelessly—practically putting their lives on the line—to raise us and provide for our family. We weren’t wealthy, but it was enough to see me through college.

Starting in junior high school, my homeroom teacher, Teacher Lin, helped me obtain tuition waivers. I’m also deeply grateful to the many classmates who helped me during that time; those experiences had a profound impact on me.

In high school: Shiyuan, who helped waive my cram school fees; and my homeroom teacher, Teacher Huang, who gave me support knowing my family situation.

The care I received from my department in college: Professor Chou, the department chair, who quietly slipped me cash when I was in desperate need; senior classmates who knew my family background and went out of their way to secure resources from the alumni association; Winston; the help from Professor Cha; and Professor David, who earnestly advised me not to drop out lightly. Even my roommates were willing to support me financially—I had a lot of growing up to do in college. And the department administrative assistant, who handled paperwork and coordinated with other departments so I could meet my graduation credits.

Joining Sudo as an intern: Thank you to the founders, Eric, Yvette, Andy, and Chen Kai, for taking a chance on me when I was a complete blank slate, and to the core development team for broadening my horizons and teaching me how to work. Also, the colleagues I worked with early on, who provided so much inspiration and motivation to someone who knew so little of the world.

My teammates at 17: Eason and the engineering team. That was the period when I grew the fastest and was happiest at work. Only after working elsewhere did I realize how rare and precious it is to have a group of colleagues who click so well together.

LINE: Denny, who referred me; the manager who checked on me when I was terrified and called the police after a stranger knocked on my door in Japan; the manager who drove me to Costco; the manager who helped shift my mindset so much; and all the colleagues I worked with. The brilliant coworker who introduced me to Ben Eater, with whom I explored IoT and even tried building a software UART from scratch.

Friends on Twitter: During a low point in my life, after I posted a tweet, many strangers on Twitter whom I had never met sent DMs of encouragement. Thank you all so much.

Huli: Going from loosely knowing each other online to becoming partners working together. Thank you for accepting my invitation, and thank you for listening to all my random thoughts and worries.

Haru, who always supports me and spares no effort in taking care of me.

The first twenty-odd years of my life were spent almost entirely relying on the help of others. Looking back, maybe that was just luck. While I can’t casually command the world like Elon Musk, I’ve finally reached a point where I have some capacity to help others.