In the Russian Jewish culture, you are not supposed to show your emotions and the education you receive is very strict. I grew up with a very dominant mother who wanted us to excel in everything we did. If I would come home with a low grade on one of my exams from school, I knew that my parents would be disappointed with me. It didn’t matter if you liked or hated the subject you were tested in. The only thing that mattered was to be at the top of your class so that later on you could enter one of the Ivy League schools so you could get a degree that would help you launch a decent career. I came to value the mentality of ‘Suck it up’ but I know that I will educate my kids differently. I will not force them to overcome every challenge they might experience in their lives. I want them to have the ability to distinguish between overcoming hardship and the knowledge of letting go of something that is just not right for you. I know that if I had that ability it would have saved me a lot of tension and anxiety.