Personal Essay About American Culture

Growing up as an Asian-American in an area with a large population of whites produced someone who renounces my grandparents and parents traditional ideals and embraces American culture, whether good or bad. As a child, I was embarrassed by my tan, yellow-toned skin, jet black hair, and native tongue. I joined an ESL program, English as a Second Language, despite the fact that I had been born and grown up in Columbus. My English was as good as it gets for an elementary student. I did occasionally spell of “ov.” However, I quickly fixed that mistake after our lesson on phonics. But because my parents spoke Khmer as their first language, I was automatically placed in the class without even been tested on my reading or writing skills. At the time I thought it was fun, easy way to earn candy, play games, and make friends. I was clueless as to why I joined the class. Because of the effects of media, pop culture, and American culture, my experiences living in the United States had not lived up to the exciting tales of the American dream. My schooling has a large impact on who I am today. All throughout elementary and middle school, I was made fun of due to my ethnicity and race. I would get comments like “Hey chink!”, “I bet your dad is a sumo wrestler,” or “She only gets good grades because she’s Asian.” Comments that would not even relate to me because the kids did not know that there were other
I was able to connect to numerous individuals who shared similar experiences and ideas. Those friends I made, are without a doubt some of the most supportive and caring people I have ever met. Even if pop culture and the media say that it is better to be “colorblind,” topics such as race should be discussed more frequently. It affects everyone, and it is the only way our society will be able to stop all the hatred and indeed make one another