At the age of 18, my mother had saved enough money for a one-way ticket to the United Kingdom, leaving her country of birth, The Philippines. Starting a new life as a to-be University of Oxford Computer Science undergraduate, she met my father, a salesmen working in Epsom, United Kingdom. With the hopes of starting a family, my mother turned down the chance to attend Oxford and began her career in Aviation, often sending money and gifts to her family and friends back in The Philippines. Shortly after giving birth to a son in October 1998, her husband left her to bring up their child.

-Ashley, London