Growing Against the Wind: My Journey from Cocoon to Butterfly

When her stepfather’s words, “Finishing middle school is enough,” came crashing down, Lin Xiaoyu’s future seemed sealed. But she took her New Year’s money and went “all in,” enrolling in accounting and embarking on a work-study journey nobody believed in. What struggles lay behind the days she spent wiping tables at restaurants and poring over books late at night? How did she carve out a place for herself in accounting and grow into someone who would make everyone look at her in a new light?