My dad is a chemical engineer, and my mom was a teacher. They

Aaron Levie, the founder who reshaped the world of cloud technology, once reflected on his beginnings with humility and clarity: “My dad is a chemical engineer, and my mom was a teacher. They were pretty serious about education, but I always thought about things a little bit differently.” These words reveal the timeless dance between tradition and innovation, between the path laid out by one’s elders and the new way discovered by one’s own spirit. In them lies the story of every generation that honors the wisdom of the past, yet dares to see the world through new eyes.

O listener, behold the roots of this story. A chemical engineer and a teacher—two noble callings, grounded in logic, discipline, and the pursuit of knowledge. From such parents comes the expectation of diligence, of steady progress, of reverence for education as the key to advancement. And yet, the child who is nurtured in this soil does not always grow straight in the direction his parents envision. Sometimes, like a tree reaching for an unexpected shaft of sunlight, he bends toward new horizons. Levie honored the seriousness of his parents, yet his mind hungered not for the traditional paths of secure professions, but for ideas that defied the old molds.

This divergence is not rebellion, but creation. History is filled with those who, raised in the traditions of their forebears, found within themselves a voice that whispered: “Look differently.” Consider Galileo, the son of a musician, who dared to look at the heavens through glass and declare that the earth was not the center of all things. Or think of Steve Jobs, born of parents who valued practical stability, yet who sought to fuse art and technology into devices that would change how humans lived and dreamed. Such men were not ungrateful for their roots—they were grateful enough to build something new upon them.

The teacher and the engineer gave Levie the gift of discipline, the love of learning, and the understanding that knowledge is sacred. Yet Levie’s own spirit added a spark: the willingness to question, to turn the world sideways, to imagine solutions others did not see. Here is the essence of innovation—it is not born from scorn of tradition, but from its transformation. A house built of strong stone can still grow new wings of glass and steel. A son raised in the seriousness of education may still choose to wield that seriousness in new, uncharted ways.

There is wisdom in this balance. Too much loyalty to tradition stifles growth; too much rejection of it leads to rootlessness. Levie’s words remind us that the highest path is to honor the past without being bound by it. To listen to the voices of father and mother, and then to listen also to the voice of one’s own soul. In doing so, the individual becomes not a copy of his parents, but their fulfillment—an extension of their legacy into realms they never imagined.

The lesson for us is this: respect your foundations, but do not let them be your prison. If you are born of discipline, let it fuel your imagination. If you are raised in tradition, let it give weight to your daring. Do not fear to “think a little differently,” for it is through difference that progress emerges. The world honors those who preserve, but it is moved forward by those who create.

Therefore, children of tomorrow, remember Levie’s path. Be grateful for the wisdom of your elders, for the teachers and the engineers who give you structure. But do not silence your own vision. If your heart shows you another way, walk it boldly. For one day, your different way of seeing may light the path for those yet to come, just as the son of a teacher and an engineer became the pioneer of a new age of technology.

For in the end, the story of Aaron Levie teaches us this: true greatness is born not in rejecting one’s roots, but in allowing those roots to nourish a tree that grows in its own direction—toward light unseen by those who came before. And such is the destiny of every generation: to honor the past, but to build the future.