Many Language learners think "If you are raised in a native English speaking country, you have an unfair advantage".

I raised by a single mother in a native English speaking country. She was not very well educated and she wished for a better life, but didn't know how.<br><br>She had no money to send me to a private school. I went to a public high school. I had a few friends, nothing special. They were all regular people. They droped out in grade 10, 11, or 12, and never went on to post-secondary education. I was the only one of my group of friends that went on to a university.<br><br>Occasionally I would hear of stories that people become multimillionaires or CEOs of big companies. I had no idea how they could do this... I knew I was smart enough, but how do they learn their skills. My impression was, that they all did their apprenticeships at 18 years old, and were multimillionaires by age 20. I had no concept of how hard they had to work to get to that level, especially their university years.<br><br>I went to university, worked hard, studied for many hours, and in my final year at university I had to work full time, and study full time, I would arrive home from work go to sleep, wake up at 2 am, study for 4 hours, then go to work, then go home and sleep. it was that way for 1 year. I was suffering a lot of anxiety, I had no time for a social life, I droped out of Taekwondo, I didn't have time for my friends or my family, I didn't have time to eat, I lost about 25 pounds, I was so stressed that my hair was falling out.<br><br>I got a good job but I was constantly anxious about being fired, I felt as if I didn't have the right skills, I felt as if I didn't work hard enough, I was constantly tired. I went to the doctor, he prescribed me anti-anxiety medication. I didn't like how it made me feel so I stoped taking them.<br><br>I was living in the suburbs of a big city. I always felt that I didn't have enough money, but I was trying to save so that I could move to Asia. Finally I saved enough money to move to Asia. I had no idea what I would do when I got there, I was thinking about teaching English, but I hated my job, and I hated teaching children English.<br><br>It took many years, but I eventually got my life together. I made a lot of mistakes, I was very naive, but I wasn't selfish, I was kind to people no matter what. <br><br>I use to walk in the park and talk to homeless people, I would bring them food, I would give them money. I use to talk to homeless people in the bars.<br><br>Now I live in SE Asia, I am fluent in Thai and Khmer, and I am a language teacher... but I teach adults, and I teach in a subject that I am passionate about, so I enjoy it.<br><br>I think many people like the idea of becoming a multimillionaire, but they don't like the hard work and the struggle that comes with it.