A better person?

One of my Chinese Malaysian colleague tells me,"You are different from your other Malay friends, don't you? You have a modern way of thinking and your work ethics are different". He was quite shocked when I told him about my secondary school, something I would rather people not know these days (save me from the grilling).

To be truthful, if I go back to work in Malaysia right now, I knew people may perceived me as being arrogant.

I was a different person back then when I was in high school. Zero self-esteem, always feel out of place. Somehow in between the transition between high school and working life, I changed. Some things stay the same - I am still as stubborn as hell and emotional. Things that has changed is I can stop caring what other people say (unless it is from someone I respected and opinions I valued), learn not to take anything to heart and believe in myself.