My Life is Like a Box of Chocolates by Kevin Chester Kuo

Hello everyone my name is Kevin Chester Kuo and I think life is like a box of
chocolates: ”you never know what you’re gonna get.” Well, almost. If you’ve watched
the movie Forest Gump then you probably recognize the quote. To be more precise, I
think life is like a box of chocolates and it is our job to find the sweetest and tastiest
chocolate in the box. This is a philosophy I live by and today I would like to share how
it has shaped my life.

I was born on January 12th, 1985 in NYU University hospital. My parents immigrated
to America from Taiwan in the early 1970s, studying first in Illinois and then moving to
New York City. As a child I grew up with an insatiable curiosity and a love for stories.
Naturally I gravitated towards movies, television, and video games. I loved to dream
about epic medieval battles between knights and wizards, passionate romances
between princes and princesses, and the bold and courageous deeds of superheroes.
I’ve always been interested in stories and adventures, but it wasn’t until I reached high
school that I began to understand that it was possible to bridge the gap between reality
and my beloved world of dreams.

My story starts with my father, Sheafen Frank Kuo, who came to America with a dream
of becoming famous, wealthy, and influential. He studied Computer Science and
Mathematics, and eventually stumbled upon the world of inventing. As a child I
remember watching my father constantly working in the basement amidst a mess of
wires and gears; the only time he wasn’t in the basement was during dinner, work
hours, or when he was sleeping. Though I didn’t understand my father’s work, I
remember how focused he was and how he excited he became whenever someone
asked him about his inventions. During middle school he developed the bad habit of
forcing my friends to sit down and listen to him talk about his inventions. My father’s
passion was so contagious that during my final year in high school, I decided to work
with him on a research project and that was the first time I understood the power of
passion. Through his passion for inventing, my father was able to develop technologies
most people could never even dream of. It was his passion for envisioning better
technology for a better world that gave him the power to turn his ideas into reality.
Because of the work I did with my father, I was accepted into Stanford University.
When I started Stanford, my dream was to graduate with a degree in Computer Science
and start a successful company with my father; however, four years later, I graduated
with a degree in East Asian Studies and had a new dream of becoming a world famous
writer and film director. This 180-degree turn came as a shock for many people, but
when I look back on my life in its entirety, it all makes sense. In college I stumbled
upon the writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson, a famous American philosopher and writer
who wrote a well-known essay, “Self Reliance.” In it Emerson says: “Insist on yourself;
never imitate. Your own gift you can present every moment with the cumulative force
of a whole life’s cultivation; but of the adopted talent of another, you have only an
extemporaneous, half possession.” His words became the impetus for my self-
discovery and as I began to pursue my own interests and passions, fights with my
father escalated. He wanted me to follow a similar path as he did, but I resisted. I
rebelled and he disowned me saying that he did not consider me his son anymore. He
would yell at me saying, “I wasted all my time on you!” And I would yell back, “You
should have just let me be!” I stood up to my father because I knew that in order for me
to achieve my dreams I had to insist on being myself.

Over the years I’ve come to understand myself much better and I’ve also learned a great
deal from my mistakes. Looking back I realize how immature I was in not accepting
my father’s wisdom and advice; but at the same time, I understand that I needed to
walk my own path even if it meant upsetting my father. Life truly is a long and bumpy
roller coaster ride. However, it is because of those bumps and turns along the way that
I have been able to find my passion in life, which is to find, create, and tell interesting
stories. There is nothing more important to me than that. Many people often ask me
why I studied Japanese and why I’ve decided to come to Japan. And though there are a
few different reasons, the most significant reason is because I found Japan and Japanese
interesting. I joined Toastmaster’s International for the same reason. The world we live
in today is so complex and so full of possibilities that interesting discoveries can be
found almost anywhere if we are only bold enough to look.

Though I’ve only lived for 22 years, by following my interests I’ve had the good fortune
of stumbling on a number of truly fascinating people in my life: I’ve met a man who
could speak 16 languages and who worked as a UN interpreter for UN Secretary
General Kofi Anan; I met a couple in China that was forced to spend 10 years of their
life during the Cultural Revolution farming land in the northernmost region of China—
a place so cold and desolate that nothing would grow; I’ve met a man who was a drug
dealer as a teen, got shot three times in the head— survived, and then dedicated his life
to helping ex-convicts.

I like to think of life as a treasure hunt in which we are all participants looking for the
biggest, brightest, and most beautiful treasure of all. If life is like a box of chocolates,
like Forest Gump says, then our duty as treasure hunters is to find the very best piece of
chocolate in the box. The piece I am searching for is a life of interest marked by
challenge, passion, and love. We are all treasure hunters of life, looking and searching
for their own unique gem. Thank you for listening to my story and I wish you all the
best of luck on this treasure hunt called life.