I am an Asian-American woman living and working in the global city of New York. Growing up in an international city allowed me to become a multicultural individual and develop into a young woman different from my counterparts in Asia and here in the United States as well. I was taught by my parents not only the values of a Chinese culture but also to strive to enhance my strengths and to go forth and establish a successful career in business while always relating back to my Chinese roots. These values of diligence, perseverance and selflessness influence my everyday work and personal life.
During my childhood and adolescence, I maintained a Chinese identity at home and an American one at school. In the presence of family, I attended Chinese language school, learned Chinese calligraphy and Chinese folk dancing. My parents were treated with the extreme respect due to our elders as taught by Chinese culture. At school, my grades were always near perfect due to the pressure of my parents. My Confucian influences led me to always think of my family’s needs above my own.
While at elementary school, I conformed to American culture at school, happily chatting with my friends about American pop culture. In high school, my school was no longer majority Caucasian. It was extremely minority-based and thus I began to merge the two culturally different sides of myself into a “Chinese-American.” When I started college, I chose a top business program with a large Asian population. In doing so, I felt that I could relate better to my fellow classmates.
As a child and an adolescent I tried to separate the two parts of my identity. It was during my years as an undergraduate that I became fully Chinese-American, merging the strengths of each individual culture and developing my own sense of self. I value the ideals of diligence and perseverance