Within life there comes a defining moment, or a series of smaller moments that assure us of who we are-in the story "A Pair of Tickets" by Amy Tan, she captures those moments. The point of view of the story is a first-person narrative by Jing-mei the protagonist who is struggling with her identity. Amy Tan takes us on Jing-mei 's journey of self-discovery. "A Pair of Tickets" doesn 't just dive you as the reader into the trip and conflict of the story that Jing-mei is engulfing on, she brings her readers back in time, back to the root of when Jing-mei began to discovery her identity and who she was: " I was a sophomore at Galileo High in San Francisco, and all my Caucasian friends agreed: I was about as Chinese as they were" (129).; only then to be assured that in time she would understand who she really was: "Someday you will see. It 's in your blood, waiting to be let go" (129). That statement holds truth for everyone in life, as we age and experience life we discover what it is that defines us; Amy Tan was able to capture an essential lesson in life and portray it through Jing-mei regardless of ethnicity, race or gender each reader becomes Jing-mei as the story evolves. The plot develops deeper and deeper with each page-you begin to experience the struggle, feel that excitement, frustration, fear and happiness as it takes place. Originally, I felt the main setting of the story took place on transportation, first the train, then the plane, in China, yet for me as the