That’s… unbelievable. I became a resident student when I was just 11 years old. I could only go home for two days after spending 12 days at school. During that time, I struggled to connect with the people around me. I was one to two years younger than my classmates. I often found comfort in my own world, filled with superheroes.

When I entered high school at 14, I began to think about my mental state and society. It was also when I started learning how to be “international” and “independent.” Back then, I heard that all youth in Western societies were outgoing and self-reliant. They lived away from their parents and paid for college themselves. But I soon realized that reality was much more complex than that stereotype. It made me curious about how children grow up in different societies.