The Whole Story
Eva Lin was born in Taipei, Taiwan in 1999, and she arrived in California in 2005 with her older brother and two parents.
=
Where she comes from, women are treated as a lower priority compared to their male counterparts. As such, she, along with every female in her family, was involved in multiple child trafficking attempts growing up. Every female found their own methods of survival. Eva survived by fostering a loving enough space for others to save her. Her final trafficker from age 11 was a 14-year-old girl who wanted Eva to follow her. She survived because the nearby vendor scared the older girl off. Each time something bad happened, she survived because she had shown enough kindness to the people around her that they wanted to step in and help when her life was in danger.
=
Two years after arriving in the States, Eva was molested by her teacher. Her teacher would pick one student every day based on whoever was last in line during lunch. Her class used to frantically run to avoid being last. By the time it got to Eva, because she was too slow that day, she realized what was happening. Why everyone hated being last in line. She ran to the middle one day, but when she turned back to see where the teacher was, she was overwhelmed with guilt to see he was side-by-side with the last student. For the remaining six to eight months, she chose to be last in line. She was then isolated by the teachers, most of her classmates, the parents, the school staff, and the volunteers. All with a different reason for doing so, whether it was survival for their own safety, a desire to maintain the peace, or a misunderstanding of why a child was acting out in aggression.
=
Eva spent the next two decades living in fear with suppressed memories. She knew she feared men in black V-necks, but didn't know why. She knew she hated a silent room, but didn't know why. She knew she disliked those with authority, but didn't know why. She knew she was scared of loud noises, but didn't know why. Once she started dating, she noticed she would freeze in fear whenever her loving partner kissed her. She noticed she knew how certain sensations would feel even though she had never experienced them. She noticed that HE kept popping into her mind during certain moments. Each time it happened, she would either experience a panic attack or have her memories suppressed.
=
After a failed suicide attempt on 2/12/2026, Eva lost the ability to dissociate and to suppress her memories. All her memories slowly started to return and to make sense. The reason for all of her behaviors and PTSD symptoms started to click. Rage flooded her system until she remembered what her 8-year-old self had wished for her. Back in 2007, a young Eva dreamt of an adult version of herself who was strong and confident with short hair, tattoos, who still wore leather jackets, and who rode a motorcycle. She imagined that version of herself charging into their classroom, calling out their teacher for his behavior, and beating him up. Luckily, this version of Eva knows better and has since followed the proper channels to report her abuser to local officials. This Eva also learned the importance of celebrating our voices and sharing our stories, so that others may know that they are not alone.