Biography :
Date of Birth : 06/08/73 (35 yo)
AKA Jessica Bennett,
The following is an interview found on her website at : asiacarrera.com

OK, we all know I was an academically gifted little girl. What I don't publicize, is that I was not an especially motivated one. I was an overachiever only through a)genetic luck, and b)incredible pressure from my parents. My parents wanted me to go to Harvard and be a doctor or a lawyer, and I wanted to play piano and hang out with friends.

Needless to say, my parents and I butted heads. My father was born in Japan, and my mother was born in Germany. They were from the "old school", strong on discipline, and overachievers themselves, so they were in no way being hypocritical with their demands on me. (My dad went to Caltech on full academic scholarship for math and physics. He's the biggest nerd I know)

I was grounded for every "B" I got, and beaten for getting anything lower than that. I was not allowed to socialize at all, or go to parties, because they said there'd be time for that after I got into a good college. Well, I did what any red-blooded American kid would do, I'd sneak out. And get caught. And get beaten. And get grounded again. Without launching into too much detail, let's just say I was unhappy. (I tried to kill myself a lot) (Asian kids everywhere have e-mailed me to verify that this is standard practice in Asian households - what a relief to find out I'm normal, huh!)

Shortly before my seventeenth birthday, I ran away from home. I stayed where I could, with a rock'n'roll band, with friends, with strangers, in hotels, at one point in a tent. I worked when I could, but I couldn't do much at seventeen, so I had no money. I had friends drive me to school every day, and I begged people to bring me Doritos so I'd have something to eat. Everything I owned fit in two garbage bags. Sometimes I fucked people I didn't want to, so I could have a place to sleep, or a good meal. I gritted my teeth a lot, and did what I had to, rather than crawl back home and grovel for my folks' forgiveness.

Eventually the State found out I was living on my own, and I got put in a foster home. My foster parents were as strict as my own parents, and I still was not allowed to date or socialize. This was twice as difficult for me to handle, after having had a taste of freedom, but I stayed until I finished high school. I ran away from my foster home on my eighteenth birthday, knowing I only had to fend for myself until the fall, when I was going to Rutgers on my full academic scholarship. I hitchhiked off with my two garbage bags of stuff, and did what I could to not starve until school started.

So I confess, I went to college not for an education, but for the promise of a hot meal and a free bed while I plotted ways to become wealthy, so I wouldn't have to go begging or fucking any more strangers for lousy scraps of charity. Four years of college is a goal I'd like to finish attaining one day, but for a runaway who lost 15 pounds without enough food to eat, getting money in the bank immediately was my priority. I got a job as a bartender, and wished I had the guts to become a stripper 'cause I heard they made lots of money. One day the owner of the bar asked me if I would serve drinks topless at a private party for $100. Wow, a hundred bucks was a lot of dough for me, so I said sure. I drank a lot of vodka to screw up my courage. Next thing you knew, I was on the bar with some strippers he'd hired, and I was collecting tips like crazy. I came home with $300 bucks, and was amazed. I'd never made that much money in my life!

The next day I took a bottle of vodka and got myself hired at all the local go-go bars. I then proceeded to work seven nights a week, and I saved a minimum of $1000 every week, and sent it off to various mutual funds. (ever hear of someone who still has the first dollar they ever made? That would be me!) I obviously stopped attending classes, only going

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