My greatest influences are my parents and my brother. My brother suffered from Guillain- Barre Syndrome when he was eight. He lived in the hospital on an artificial ventilation for 97 days and later he had to continue physical therapy for at least ten years as he was completely paralyzed. My parents and my brother devoted their few years completely for his treatment. Today, my brother is a successful engineer working in the bay area. I learned that with dedication, determination and diligence we can achieve our dream in life…
In Neither Real Americans nor Real Asians? Multigeneration Asian Ethnics Navigating the Terrain of Authenticity, Mia Tuan discusses how Asian Americans today are not fully Asian nor fully American, and are characterized as not Asian enough due to the way they behave and/or live. Tuan discusses that when Asians interact with non-Asian people, they must “fight” to prove that they are not embracing their Asian roots more than their American roots due to wanting to feel accepted. On the other hand, they are seen as less Asian by “authentic” Asians, due to them not fully embracing their ethnic roots.…
My Seven Habits Profile indicates that I am very good in the areas of Seek First To Understand, Then To Be Understood, Being Proactive, and my weakest area was Sharpening The Saw.…
We struggle to adapt to the culture of America. We find the need to identify with our roots in Asian religion, thought and practices. Sometimes we are looked at oddly due to our customs or our beliefs; we truly wish to take care our own. We will always lend a hand, but that same hand has also been bitten by those we've helped. It is our cultural way to be quiet and reserved, keep our business private and not share our problems. Our way of life is unique to the American culture, much of it remains a mystery but with time we've shed much light into our own culture and traditions.…
As a minority, immigrating from Korea to a wildly different country like the United States has been the most influential decision that my family made to live the possibility of the "American Dream". Moreover, growing up as an Asian-American wasn’t simple; I was faced with the challenge of malicious racial slurs, spiteful judgment, and condemnation. However, through these criticism, I’ve grown to understand that our response to those judgements is what builds character in which has made me more transparent, vulnerable, and empathetic.…
Language was not always easy to speak, write, and understand when I first moved here from India. Understanding two different culture shocks from Indian culture and American culture, was surely one of the toughest part about moving to the United States was. Everything was very different from my skin color to the way I spoke English. Every time I passed by people in the hallway, everyone would stare at me because they all knew about “the new girl from India.” Slowly as months passed by I started realizing the difference in culture, lifestyle, and behavior. Looking back before I moved to the US, growing up with a single parent impacted my view in society. My mom always taught me to be the hardest working person in the room. She always told me…
Growing up as a second generation Asian American, courage was a word that I was well versed with. My parents fled Cambodia after spending years in rice fields, fearfully working for the communist party that tore their lives away from them. When the moon rose each night the blood and tears of the broken country were shadowed by the somber preparations for the next day. For my father, the day just begun; no one ever dared to escape before dark. His arrival in a Thailand refugee camp was crucial. As a teacher, he was targeted. The goal was to demolish all evidence of the “old society.” But he was caught. The soldiers tied him to a tree and beat him. Although no matter how many times he was hit, he continued to say his prayers. His continuous…
Growing up in a neighborhood where you were automatically labeled a “screw-up” or a criminal has affected my peers and I in negative way. Many generations before mine have been discouraged to further their education, simply because of the marginalization of our ethnicity and the neighborhood where we have grown up. There is a disconnection between the language of my education and the language of my culture simply because in the schools my peers and I attend, we are not pushed enough to realize our full potential. Meanwhile at home, [most being hispanic] we are told that furthering our education is the most valuable thing we do have in life. In our hispanic families, we have a lot of support to follow our dreams and do whatever we need to in order to be successful, and although that is very helpful for many, it can only do so much. If we were pushed like this by the rest of the world and not treated as though we do not deserve to be successful, we would push to do our very best all the time.…
This connection that I have with my mother is a dime a dozen if you look at our entirely culture here in America. Less and less families these days actually cook or sit down to eat a meal together which has left many Americans searching for something they have lost. This lost feeling is being capitalized on by television networks by the vast amount of cooking and food related shows that are being broadcasted. Frank Bruni asks in “An Experts Theory of Food Television Appeal”, “For these young people, does the televised cooking have have the appeal of a missive from a lost utopia” (Bruni 111)? I believe he hit the proverbial nail right on the head with this line of questioning and he couldn't be more correct. Young adults who lead busy lives,…
Personal background starts off small, it changes and grows over time into something big, it grows into an identity. Walking down the hallway at school, seeing someone standing alone, my first instinct is to make conversation, compliment, or even just smile at him or her. This instinct came from someone once telling me an act so small could turn a person's entire life around. As a kid, reading encyclopedias about random topics, consumed my time. Many days were spent coming home to find an injured wild animal in my dad's arms waiting to be saved. My dad would sit outside and draw animals, trees, and anything else he saw. Nothing excited me more than trying to draw whatever my dad drew, and as good as he did. Any assignment that was handed to…
In everyday life, people face multiple challenges that may block them from achieving their goal. The significance of experiencing challenges and overcoming them causes strength throughout life. It also teaches individuality and accomplishments when striving for desires. Being a Chinese American girl poses numerous challenges to overcome. I have learned this through copious personal experiences throughout the years.…
Ever since I was born, I was a military brat. Not knowing where to call home, or if any place could be home, I moved. I moved six times, four of those places were towns that nobody could think about. Germany, North Carolina, Alaska, North Carolina, Germany, and Alaska, yet no place to call home. May 22, 1999, my first day on this world; Kronach hospital had its first American baby in their hands, yet they acted like I was a different species. The only event I remember was when I was about one. While I was one, I grabbed everything in my reach, even a grill handle. As a baby, I did not know that the handle was moving, the grill top had smashed my thumb. Ever since that event, I now have a starfish mark on the side of my right thumb from where the stiches were.…
In my daily basis I can speak three languages and think it is great. In college I speak English, at home Russian/Ukrainian/English. My English was very bad and it was my first difficulty here. Overcome, but still a difficulty. For example, when it was necessary to call the bank or regarding any bill, at first I become covered with a cold sweat. Sometimes they hang up on me, which was understandable, but then I learn to write it down their names (practice in alphabetical), after that they were more patient with me. I didn’t live and didn’t work on Brighton Beach, where everybody speaks only Russian and it helped me to improve my speaking. Also, I was lucky to work in a medical office with all native speaking English employees. It helped me a lot. I don’t know how about in other states, but in New York is both good and bad, no one…
When I first came into this country at the age of 7, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I transitioned from having stereotypical Asians that surrounded me to complete strangers, ABCs(American Born Chinese) who follow the cultural norms of whites. I expected to find relief in my fellow Asians but I soon came to realize that the only thing we had in common was our physical attributes. In order to fit in I had to adapt by changing the very foundation of my identity, from the language I speak and the clothes I wear to how I interact with others. These might not sound like dramatic life changing transitions, but they altered the very basis of my identity, from a cliche asian, to a traditional ABC. Although you could define me as an FOB for bieng born in china, Majoity of my traits are that of an ABC.My lifestyle, my personal experience, and my way of interaction with friends are very similar if not the same to most of my friends, all of who are…
My first home for many years. This land comes rarer to me as the day…