The day I received my letter of acceptance to New York University, I was extremely excited. It was my dream university, and my _  (1)   _ were pleased for me. But they also hadn’t  _  (2)   _  me to get into such a competitive school. In fact, the best thing they ever did for me was to  _  (3)   _  me from doing things  _  (4)   _ —indeed, when I was in elementary school, they offered to buy me a present  _  (5)   _  I got a C.

It _  (6)   _  when I was in third grade. An only child in an Asian family, I had just  _  (7)   _  with my family from Taiwan to Los Angeles. Months into third grade, I developed a strong feeling of  _  (8)   _  about getting bad grades. Seeing my anxiety, Dad said, “Kate, tell you what. If you get a C or  _  (9)   _ , I’ll buy you a present. If you score higher than that, I won’t buy you anything，because you won’t  _  (10)   _  it.”

Clearly dad wasn’t the  _  (11)   _  Asian tiger parent, pressuring me to work tirelessly for the best  _  (12)   _ , and neither was my mom. They didn’t want to push me. They wanted me to be _  (13)   _  and healthy. Dad’s  _  (14)   _  of a “failing grade” gift amazingly _  (15)   _  my worries and pressure. What’s more，I  _  (16)   _  getting A’s and B’s throughout high school, but without the added stress and fear of failing. I think it was my parents’ lack of stress on grades that gave me  _  (17)   _  to encourage my own desire for achievements.

I now realize I was  _  (18)   _  when I thought I didn’t receive a present from my dad that day. He gave me two invaluable  _  (19)   _ : the space to develop my own desire for excellence, and the healthy mind to _  (20)   _ it.