I am a 25-year-old woman named Emily. I was born and raised in the suburbs of California with my family of five: my parents and two younger siblings. My childhood was pretty typical - I went to school, played sports, hung out with friends. But it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. My parents were high school sweethearts who got married young, had kids even younger. They struggled financially for a long time, always worried about making ends meet. It made us tight-knit but also... anxious? Maybe that's the word. We always knew we had to be careful with our money and resources.

As I grew older, it became clear that my family's circumstances weren't just financial - they were also tied to our cultural identity. My parents came from traditional Korean families where modesty was paramount. They dressed conservatively, cooked traditional meals at home, and expected us kids to follow suit. It wasn't until high school when I began questioning these norms for myself that things started getting tricky.

My own relationships have been complicated too. I've always had trouble forming close bonds with guys - maybe it's because my dad was such a presence in my life? He was super protective, which felt suffocating at times. Anyway, after college, I moved to LA and began working as an event planner. It was just me for the first time ever, living alone, making decisions without considering others' opinions... it was liberating! But scary too - like