It’s quite an obvious truth that the world we live in is unfair. Over and over again, from the justice system to the current pandemic, we clearly see the difference between the rich and the poor, the well-educated and the uneducated. But at the same time, the world is also fair. Coronavirus doesn’t discriminate to favor one group over another. To answer the question whether the world is fair is quite a daunting task, and I don’t know the answer. But there’s one thing I know for sure: as I started my journey to walk with God, my world has always been, currently is, and will always be fair. It may sound selfish but at the end of the day, whether the world is fair really doesn’t matter to me. The only thing that matters is that my world is fair. It has always been fair because God is my judge. God is fair, and since He’s my judge, my world is fair. In my world, I have never seen anyone working hard and not having enough. God always provides, and God is perfectly fair. “I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all” (Ecclesiastes 9:11). With time, I have seen justice to prevail as goodness is celebrated and evil is punished. It takes time of course, but at the end, justice is upheld, always.

When I reflect upon my life, I realize that as obstacles in life increase, my rewards also increase as long as I remain faithful to walk with God.

The graph below probably explains why we think the world is unfair when it actually is fair. The red line is how I view my life, and the gray line is whom I compare myself to. I wasn’t fortunate to be born in America and didn’t get a chance to go to a feeder school to get into the Ivy League for undergrad. I didn’t get a chance to even apply to the top industries that only recruit from Ivy League and top colleges. So I suppose my starting point is lower than my peers. But over time, I work harder than anyone else I know. In college, I can’t think of one other student at school who worked harder than me, both academically and professionally. If an assignment took an hour to get an A-, I worked two hours to get an A+. If one internship was enough to satisfy the school requirement, I did five to finally get a green card. My reward is not only the green card but also an Ivy League education. Yale is a dream coming true. It didn’t happen in the first year or second year after I came to America. It happened after 10+ years with many sacrifices, countless tears, and one obstacle after another along the way. But that’s why it’s fair. I worked hard, so now I’m enjoying the fruit of my labor. As I finished my first year at Yale, I’m beyond thankful for this blessing God has provided me. With that hope and gratefulness, I look forward to another great year ahead. When we look at the graph above, if we only look at the starting point, of course the world is unfair. But as we look at the whole picture, the world suddenly becomes fair. Whoever works harder will receive more. I don’t know if this is true for the whole world. I only know that this is true in my world where God is the judge. “For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; it is he who will save us” (Isaiah 33:22). “So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad” (2 Corinthians 5: 9-10).

When it comes to fairness in life, the law of cause and effect governs it all. The outcome in life is the sum of all consequences of our series of decisions. A successful man is the one considering the consequences prior to deliberately making the decisions. It’s also necessary to know thy self: I know what I want and how to get there. I’m willing to work hard, sacrifice for it, and do whatever it takes to get what I want. This is great advice, but this is also the worldly view. The godly view, I believe, is just like that plus one additional thing: know thy God. When my faith is strengthened, my relationship with God is also getting stronger. Then I can clearly listen to the Holy Spirit in me to follow God’s guidance. At that moment, I know what I want because God put that desire in my heart. When I reflect upon my life, God put one desire after another in my heart and open each door one by one for me: coming to the US, scholarship to college, green card, Yale, my American dream. “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it’” (Isaiah 30:21).

If life is a choice, then happiness is also a choice. It’s necessary for us to understand the difference between happiness and joy. The moment we accept Jesus in our lives and start to walk with God, He guarantees us heavenly peace, joy, and strength from above. But He doesn’t necessarily guarantee happiness. Happiness, however, is still within our control to choose to accept or reject it despite how life treats us. When my second internship got cancelled, there was fear and anxiety in my mind as I looked ahead at the full-time recruiting process for next year during the projected upcoming recession. But God calmed me down and reminded me of all things He has done. Why should I worry? God has proven Himself to be trustworthy. He opens one door after another. He always provides. Why would it change this time? It wouldn’t because God never changes. I will be just fine. So instead of anxiety and fear, I replaced them with both personal and professional achievements during this quarantine period. Regarding my personal achievements, for starter, I lost 10 lbs. and still have 10 more to go this summer. I learn to know thy self as God has taught me many valuable lessons about myself. I love the important people in my life, but I didn’t know how to love them well and love them right until God showed me and taught me, as how Christ loves me. Regarding my professional achievements, I spent this time to connect with people in the industry to prepare for full-time recruiting. I also helped five classmates to get internships. My mentor once taught me that individually, we can move faster, but together we can move farther. These five classmates wouldn’t have had the internships if the pandemic had not happened. A threat can also be an opportunity. This experience reminded me of the story of Joseph. When he faced his brothers, who sold him into slavery, Joseph not only forgave them but also calmed them down, helped them, and glorified God’s name. “But Joseph said to them, ‘Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children. And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them” (Genesis 50: 19-21). Unlike Joseph, I didn’t save any lives. But I’m thankful that God used the pandemic that was meant to be harmful to give me an opportunity to serve Him by supporting my classmates with their careers. At the end, God’s name is glorified. Sometimes we forget how massive and powerful God is. He works not only on each of us individually but also all things together in the system as a whole. When He blesses me with my individual successes, He also uses me and my successes to help others. Like a chain reaction, His system works perfectly. God is the best engineer in the world. Through all of this, it’s been proven that God is still alive today. Miracles are still happening at the present, not just in the past in Bible time.

During this quarantine time, I also learn to appreciate each moment and enjoy life to the fullest. As I reflect upon the first year of my MBA experience at Yale, I have one regret. My biggest regret in business school that this pandemic has revealed to me is the fact that I didn’t enjoy my college experience to the fullest. I worried too much, and I focused too much on recruiting that I didn’t do what I intended to do at business school. I missed the fall dance for an unnecessary recruiting event. Spring dance was cancelled, so I suppose I have to wait till next year to attend the fall dance, if it’s still happening since we don’t know if school will be open in the fall.    

If life is a choice, then our career path is also a choice. From working for four years in private equity, I notice the difference between the aggressive path and the good path. The aggressive path is built upon greed whereas the good path is built upon God’s law and principles. Which path to choose affects not only our family, spouses, kids, but most importantly, it determines our characters. I remember when my COO retired, there was a line of people lining up to say goodbye. That day I counted, and we had at least one person in each department crying over his farewell. This godly man left a legacy behind as he chose the good path, the godly path and stayed away from the aggressive path, the greedy path. From this man, I learn to do good as I do well. That’s one of the main reasons I chose Yale comparing to other b-schools because I also believe in the mission to educate leaders for business and society. But you may ask, is this a correlation or causation? Is it a coincidence that this good man happens to be a Christian? I don’t think so. I don’t believe this is a coincidence. He’s a good man because he follows Christ. And that’s why this former COO of mine is also my role model. I aspire to be like him in my career. I want to follow God as He leads me on my career path. I want to glorify Him to do good as I also do well. “Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done’” (Matthew 16: 24-27). As each of us carries our cross for Christ, we can encourage one another on this journey. We each need a Timothy behind us to mentor, a Peter alongside of us to encourage, and a Paul ahead of us to learn from. This former COO and my dad are the Paul in my life on my journey toward Christ. As they carry their own crosses, they help me and serve as role model for me to carry my cross.

Regarding how to choose the right career path, the world says to choose the most prestigious, the most glamorous, and the richest path. But then are you happy with this choice? To elevate this question, are you joyful and peaceful on this path? Well this is actually a trick question because joy and peace are internal. They come from Christ alone and are not affected by external factors caused by the environment around us. If we don’t have peace and joy, then something is wrong from the inside. Perhaps this job or this career disturb our internal relationship with God. If that’s the case, this job or career is not the disease but rather symptoms for a much worse internal disease: separation between us and God. I’m very blessed in a way that God has chosen my path thus far for me, and I plan to follow this same structure. Why fix something if it’s not broken? God leads, and I follow. It’s as simple as that. I look back at the past and am thankful for all He has done. With this hope, I look forward to another great year ahead knowing that God has everything under control. He’s not just the God of the universe; He’s also the God of my universe. He’s not just the judge of this world; He’s also the judge of my world. But the best part of all is that He is my heavenly father. Full of love, grace, mercy, hope, and forgiveness.