A Memoir Biography Sample

Y's childhood in China was filled with animals – cicadas, grasshoppers, cats, chickens, cows, sheep, and  pigs. “The pigs were my favourite. Maybe because I was born in the year of the pig,” she said.

She was born on the outskirts of Shanghai. The family apartment was close to paddy fields and lush farmlands where she would encounter some of these animals during walks with her mother P.

P taught French to high school students and later became a deputy principal at the same school, while Y’s father K worked as an engineer with a defense manufacturer. “Both my parents are very smart,” Y said. Her father taught himself 7 languages and her mother was a visiting scholar at the Paris-Sorbonne University before becoming a teacher. 

Y has fond memories of time spent with both her parents. With her father she would spend summer afternoons and evenings catching grasshoppers and cicadas from trees. He would use his engineering skills to make a simple net and then the pair would put the insects in jars to observe. “That was one of my favourite moments with him, that he just took the time to catch those cicadas together,” she said. She loved nature and was never afraid of bugs because of these experiences. 

P would take Y shopping and buy her her favourites, like candy and fruits, and tell her bedtime stories before sleeping next to her. “She was the prettiest girl in her class and had many suitors when she was younger,” Y said.

Despite having good relations with each parent, Y remembers that they did not get along with each other and argued a lot since “... they had different personalities and values.”