The Village Girl’s Rise

In 2010, I had found my footing at a major company in the city, and my career was going smoothly. But one candid remark, made without a second thought, gave a colleague something to use against me and unearthed the painful past I had buried for more than twenty years.

I was born in a poor mountain village. Frail and asthmatic since childhood, I was despised by my brother and sister-in-law, who saw me as a burden on the family. I endured their coldness and mistreatment, and at eighteen, desperate to escape my lowly lot and prove myself, I rushed into marriage.

I once thought marriage would save me, but instead I sank into an even deeper mire. Life with my husband's family was hard: my sisters-in-law schemed, my eldest brother-in-law was overbearing and domineering, and my husband was an idle gambler.

With nowhere else to turn, I swallowed my pride and returned to my parents' home, struggling to make a living. I endured illness, exploitation, and countless days when there seemed to be no hope.

Fueled by a stubborn refusal to give up, I kept my head down, worked hard, and fought my way upward.

Little by little, I made my way out of the remote mountains, left the stifling village, and went to the city to earn a living.

I started at the bottom as a temporary worker. Through diligence, hard work, and a willingness to learn, I climbed step by step until I joined the management team at a major company.

There was no golden finger, no overnight fortune, and no great wealth or status.

I am just one of millions of working-class women. I rewrote my fate with my own hands, struggling to rise from the dust. That is the most grounded kind of triumph in my ordinary life.