Every year I teach dozens of students at the University of Birmingham. Most of the students on the gender and sexuality courses are women. I guess this is because the boys don't think that gender applies to them: that it's a subject for girls.

The richest most meaningful stories are found in small places: made, carried, crafted, told, and retold by apparently unimportant people.

I never felt any different from anyone else though.

Remember that what you have is unique because it's your own special way of looking at the world.

My ideal destination is a place where my family is; it could be anywhere in the world and it’ll still be home.

Thirteen thousand dollars a year is not enough to raise a family. That's not enough to pay your bills and save for their future. That's barely enough to provide for even the most basic needs.

I really love being alive. I love my family and my work. I love the opportunity I have to do things. That's what happiness is.

My father was second-generation Chinese-American, born in 1923 in California. My mother emigrated to the States from China when she was in her early twenties, in part to escape the political turmoil in China.