Senior relishes moments with father

Senior Gloria Liou waits for her father to come back from work. Unlike most students, however, her dad doesn’t just arrive at home after a drive from the office. He is coming back from Taiwan, and this is the only time she’s seen him in several months. Although Liou is seeing him for the first time this year, she knows she has only three more chances to see him after this visit.

Liou’s father has worked as an engineer in Taiwan for the past five years, coming back around four times a year to visit the family. After not being able to find work in the U.S., Liou’s father took a job in Taiwan to support the family while Liou and her mother stayed in California to maintain a stable education and to avoid a complete uprooting.

“It’s been so long it almost feels 'normal' for him not to be there,” Liou said. “But it’s still kind of lonely without a father figure around, especially since I’m an only child.”

Due to her father being gone all the time, Liou is even more thankful for her mother, calling her “her best friend.”

“We are practically like sisters; we tell each other everything,” Liou said.

Although Liou doesn’t feel that she’s deprived of anything due to her father’s absence, she considers her violin teacher to be a kind of father figure that she can look up to.

“It’s weird, but he fills that role for me.” Liou said. “During my lessons we talk about life, and he gives me advice on colleges, stress and even boys.”

When Liou’s father comes back from Taiwan every few months, Liou makes sure to spend quality time with him before he has to fly back, eating out together as a family and playing card games. Some favorites are Big 2 and a Chinese game called Gong Zhu.

Another fun connection between Liou and her father is, funnily enough, the game Neopets. After giving him her account five years ago, Liou’s father has gone on to win her “tons of neopoints” through this quirk of his. 

Liou relishes these rare moments and has realized how thankful she is to spend time with her father, knowing that he has commit to his job to support their family.

“I’ve learned that the less time you have with someone, the more you learn to appreciate them," Liou said. “I always try my hardest in anything I do because I see how hard my dad works and all the sacrifices he has made, and I hope I can pay it all back one day.”