Genesis
Before Chiu founded Possibilities Psychological Services, before Possibilities Press existed, she was a child who struggled to belong.
By high school, she was a disengaged student; often overwhelmed by challenges at home, experiencing a persistent sense of otherness, and encountering academic difficulties that were later understood as dyscalculia. Numbers felt impossible. People felt unsafe. School was not a place where she naturally thrived except in one crucial space: writing.
Her English teacher, Madam Lim Ai Ling, saw something in 15-year-old Chiu that she could not yet see in herself. With tenacious belief and quiet persistence, Madam Lim encouraged Chiu’s writing far beyond what was required. Madam Lim supported her student’s short stories for class assignments, encouraged her contributions to the school yearbook, and facilitated her original creative work for state-level competitions. At a time when she felt alone, misunderstood, and uncertain of her own capacity, her English teacher consistently treated her voice as something worth hearing.
Rita Pierson, a professional educator since 1972, said “Every child deserves a champion, an adult who will never give up on them, who understands the power of connection, and insists that they become the best that they can possibly be.”
Madam Lim was Chiu’s champion.
This teacher's belief did not fix the chaos around her student, nor did it erase the challenges she faced. However, it certainly gave this young person something enduring: a sense that her inner world mattered, and that creativity could be a place of safety, expression, and possibility. That belief stayed with Chiu long after she left school. It quietly shaped Chiu’s path into adulthood, her work as a clinical psychologist, and ultimately, her return to writing as an adult.
These books are dedicated to Madam Lim Ai Ling, and to all teachers who choose to champion their students, especially the ones who struggle, who are disengaged, or who have not yet been given language for their differences. Your belief matters more than you may ever know.
Madam Lim and Chiu, January 2017
We invite you to explore the books published under Possibilities Press, the imprint through which these stories have found their home. Whether you are a child, a parent, an educator, or someone in search of kinship, we hope these books meet you with warmth and understanding.