Year 23. Step one of the greencard journey.

I feel like nobody.

2011, step one of the greencard journey. I keep going to conferences in MIT and Harvard, hoping one conversation with an influential executive would get me a ticket to the glorious corporates.

I enter the room. I feel like nobody. Hollow and invisible, among those Ivy League elites.

I strain my brain to come up with outstanding questions to call for their attention. I get their cards. I fill in the cover letter template with fabricated lines of how I love data analysis.

Zero replies in the inbox. A strong hammer on my head that shatters my confidence and hope. How am I gonna survive this immigrant life? What do I do if I have to leave America in 10 months? 

The green card path won't tolerate any pivots. I have to kill my urge to pursue a true passion. I need to package myself as the perfect model to be in their system and access their resources.

Once I get the greencard, I will then have freedom.