By Alfred Chuang, CNN Business Perspectives

"My dream as a child growing up in Hong Kong was to study in America, but my initial F1 student visa was rejected. The immigration officer asked me a trick question: Would I stay in the US and get practice experience after my studies? I said yes.

The immigration officer told me there was no need to ever apply again. I thought my journey in the United States was over before it even began. But I persisted and kept applying, and on August 28, 1979, two years after the immigration officer posed that question, I finally received my student visa.

Upon graduating with a master's in computer science at the University of California, Davis, I was fortunate to land my dream job in Silicon Valley at Sun Microsystems, the 'Google' of its time. The company helped me apply for my H1-B visa and sponsored my green card. Through this experience, I eventually became a citizen of the United States." 

Read the full story at the CNN Business website.