“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”

What does a dumpling look like?

My very first attempt at making one resulted in a rather deformed, half-folded piece of dough. And it only took a few seconds of my imposter-of-a-dumpling oozing all over its neighbors before my mother declared that I needed dumpling bootcamp.

I used to learn and just accept what I learned as truth – it is what it is.

I never questioned her process of making dumplings, because it consistently turned out the tastiest dumplings I could find. Yet years later, a simple question between my friends imploded into a furious debate on everything from the ratio of filling to dough to the number of folds…

Because what my mother passed along had worked so well, only when it was finally disproved did I realize that I accepted her "truth" without challenging it, without earning the right to claim it as my "truth."

I began to challenge the everyday "truths" I accepted before. To blend in is a virtue, I learned. But what if I stand out? Focus on the results, I learned. But what about my personal growth each step along the way?

Particularly at HBS, I have learned to question, to test, to explore. Some "truths" I have rejected and other "truths" I have reclaimed. Now, only after this process am I comfortable enough with a "truth" to call it mine.

I will live life based on my own truths.

— Danna Wei