I had trouble with my name.

I could not change my name because of our conventional Chinese rules. Li is my last name and it comes from my father. There is nothing wrong with my last name. My first name contains two Chinese characters: Wen and Zao. In our language, Wen is an advantageous word, which means knowledge. My parents chose this character because they wanted me to be an educated person. Zao is a very common word, but it’s strange to use this word as someone’s name. This word means “stove,” the cooking appliance in the kitchen.

I had some sassy classmates who often hollered at me, “Hey, why do you go to school every day? You should stay at home. Your father, your mother, and your brothers will be hungry without you.” I did not have any words to retort. I felt ashamed. It is an awful memory.

One day, I wanted to know why my parents gave me this name. My father was an extremely strict man, and I did not know if my question would make him unhappy, so I drank three glasses of water to calm down before asking him. Then, I found out the answer.

In our country, people believe that everything is made of gold, wood, water, fire, and soil. A fortune–teller said I lacked fire and soil in my life, so my name had to include fire and soil. In Chinese, there are two characters that include fire and soil: stove and cigarette. My parents had only two choices. I asked myself which one was better, and I agreed that it was stove.

My name places a good wish. It’s very significant to me.

My parents know. I know.

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Wenzao Li was born and raised in the city of Longyan, in the province of Fujian, China. He is 37 years old and has been in the United States since 2014. His native language is Mandarin. He thinks learning English is a wonderful thing. He says it can bring you a sense of accomplishment you have never felt before. Wenzao Li attends Veronica Jordan-Sardi’s CLIP class at CUNY’s College of Staten Island. Blerina Likollari is the program’s director.