I did not grow up speaking English. When I was born, my parents could not afford to raise me so I was sent to live in China, where I learned to speak Mandarin. As a result, when I came back to attend school in America, I did not speak any English. I struggled in elementary school. Most of my peers spoke English. During those early years, I was almost always extremely confused about what was happening and struggled to catch up to what was being taught in class.