Occasionally， being better informed leads to better decisions. Mostly，though， I think we make choices based on who we are， not what we know. The lessons here are things that people who knew and loved me tried to tell me. So thank you to my relatives who scolded me in four languages，and to my high school English teacher who watched over me like Cupid with a Ph.D.， and to my best friend， who taught me patience. These people did their best to make me smarter in the ways that count.