My favorite film is The Shawshank Redemption, a work that has repeatedly resonated with me at a spiritual level. One line from the film, “Some birds aren’t meant to be caged. Their feathers are just too bright,” has stayed with me, reminding me that everyone, in some way, lives within a cage shaped by structural constraints.

As an ordinary East Asian woman, the gendered discipline imposed on women, structural obstacles in career development, and the relative lack of family and social resources I encounter are not personal shortcomings, but tangible limitations. Yet these realities will never be a reason for abandoning my pursuit of what I believe in. In the future, they will be acknowledged, addressed, and ultimately overcome.