Originally, my mom picked “Lillian” from the dictionary. She chose this name because it represents the flower, Lily, graceful, nice, and calm person. Lillian is a blend of Lily and Ann. In Hebrew, it means “my God is a vow”.

My last name “Li” means Minister. I didn’t know that there was a story behind the last name “Li”.  Apparently, the story behind the last name “Li” was that this family fled the country and relied on a plum, “Li”, to survive.

 I was embarrassed by my last name because I have been criticized based on my last name because it was a Chinese last name. I would always be scared to tell people my last name. I also had moments where people assumed that my last name was “Lee” and not “Li”, and once they found out my last name was “Li” and not “Lee” they would give me looks. 

I don’t plan to change my name because I like it.  I think it sounds nice and it holds meaning to me. I grew up speaking mainly Cantonese and English.