Mistakes Were Made Analysis

As a first-generation Asian-American college student and the first in my family to move onto higher education, my chances of academic success were improbable.

Asians are one of fastest growing minority groups in America today. During this century, various factors at home and abroad have caused people from Asia to immigrate to the United States for better or for worse. Due to these factors, Americans and American teachers, in particular, need to educate themselves and become aware of the Asian American students’ needs in terms of success and happiness. Before beginning my research, I felt I had an easy subject: studying Asian Americans in relation to their education in public schools. How simple! Everyone knows they are smart, hard working, driven to succeed in spite of their nerdish, geeky, non-athletic, broken-English stereotype. Of course they are

However, the incessant hovering and excessive involvement from Asian parents can add tremendous pressure and stress onto young Asians. In the Daily Collegian News, Penn State sophomore Trevor Hsu expresses, “It puts pressure on Asian [students] themselves to fit that stereotype…they can feel that they let themselves [and their families] down because they have not achieved the level of excellence that the stereotype has set.” (qtd. in Dailey). Because they feel guilty and shameful, many Asian students are reluctant to admit to their parents and teachers that they have difficulties with class works and assignments as much as their non-Asian classmates and consequently, they do not received the support they need to improve their performance.

The Asian group has strong standards regarding academic success. The United States Census Bureau reported that the percentage of Asian Americans to possess a bachelor’s degree or higher increased by 54% which shows a significant increase within the past 20 years (United States Census Bureau, 2016). Throughout much of Asia, children are taught at an early age to believe that education is the only path to success. While they are a distinct minority, their indicators of success in terms of education and future income occur because of the unique style of parenting which is based on the belief of the philosopher Confucius. Within their culture, they are taught to work on self-perfection which will help them achieve self-improvement in qualities such as diligence, determination, and concentration (Seal, 2010). Parents, family members, and their community assume the responsibility for teaching and disciplining children. Furthermore, they instill the belief that a child’s achievement or lack thereof is a direct reflection on the efforts of the entire family and community (Chen & Uttal, 1988). These types of demands coupled with academic

Asian-American students are often assumed to be the ones who finish on top academically. Due to the amount of high-ranking Asian-American students in schools throughout the United States, a cliché stereotype has been developed claiming all Asian students are “whiz kids.” The culture which Asian individuals practice differs by region however, majority of Asian individuals celebrate a different culture than mainstream Americans. I interviewed Susan, an Asian-American female who was born to an Asian mother, and an American father.

Modern Day example would include the “English Only Movement” and the “reverse quotas for Asians in college admissions” (Ngai, p. 67). The limitations of Asian access to postsecondary education is troubling because they are amongst some of the brightest American citizens, especially when using measures of college readiness benchmarks used for college admissions. For example, Asian Americans taking the ACTs during high school scored higher on math and science portions than any other recorded racial group. In an economy where science, technology, engineering and mathematics

Throughout American history, the United States has been a cauldron where different diversities mix and mingle. In this hot pot of diversity, all of the ingredients (ethnicities) will not always conform to one and other; this could possibly lead to discrimination. This paper will be primarily focus on the discrimination towards Asian American youth of the 21st century and how it affects their academics. The research question guiding this investigation is “To what extent does the stereotyping of Asian American high school students as the model minority impact their performance on standardized tests such as ACT?” The focus will lead towards the stereotyping of Asian American students such as smart, math geniuses, or good at

Its impressive how something like a number-saying system can influence in the level of difficulty an Asian student, compared to an American average student, can have in math. Asians have a built in advantage when it comes to math. Does that mean they are more likely to succeed? Not necessarily but it I an advantage rooted in a group’s culture, in this case, Asians. Therefore cultural legacy is another key factor in the why of what we do and who we become.

Prior to this course, I had little to no knowledge on Asian Pacific Americans (APA). After weeks of discussing and analyzing material that dealt with the hardships that minorities such as APA individuals faced, I can conclude that this ethnic group underwent experiences that were not too uncommon from that of Latinos and African Americans. Since population in California today, consist of an average of 60% Asians and Latinos as stated in the book, “Learning English/Learning America” by Juana Mora, Gina Masequesmay, Eunai Shrake, and Ana S. Munoz, it is safe to say that students in classrooms nowadays are mainly those within these ethnic groups (Mora, Masequesmay, Shrake, and Munoz, ix). I will be focusing on three of the many stories APA and Latino students have to share in this book, that I felt related to me most as I also, am a second generation student.

To some people this is not be viewed as a stereotype due to the fact it is not instantly perceived as “negative”; for those readers who delve in deeper, this stereotype outlines the educational daily hidden pressure of people from Chinese descent whom do not fit this “positive” stereotype. Every day, especially in American society, classmates look to their Asian counterparts to provide the answers to questions they do not know in every subject they take. Nonetheless, this ridiculous assumption hurts the Asian students that do not feel comfortable with their intellectual abilities. Placing Asian students as the “model student” excludes the students who actually have problems and need help that other classmates are reluctant to give the students simply because their classmates do not view helping their struggling Asian classmates as an actual necessity. By “poking” fun and bringing into light both Asian stereotypes, Yang enforces view that stereotypes are in use today.

This article explains and discusses how good Asian students do in high academic levels. At the same time, refutes four different myths about Asian American academic achievements. The article has a brief introduction including some background information before focusing, explaining and discusses the four myths: Asian American has superior academic achievement; Asian-American students are born smart; Asian-American students are trouble-free kids, and Asian-American students are good at

The general argument made by Alix Spiegel in his work, Struggle for Smarts? How Eastern and Western Cultures Tackle Learning, is that American kids do not try hard enough to get through a problem, while other cultures such as Eastern places take however long they need. Alix went on a trip to Japan to research teaching methods. He noticed while sitting in a classroom of a fourth-grade math class a student was struggling with something, after a while the teacher told him to write it on the board. Normally, in America, teachers will call the smarter students up to do the example on the board.

I found another illogical statement in number 6 which states that “If Lady Gaga uses Truvia, it must taste better than Splenda.” This is an ad populum fallacy because it does not contain a reason for believing that Truvia tastes better than Splenda. This is problematic because its reasoning is based off the preference of a celebrity. We have no evidence in this statement that gives us proper reasoning to believe that Truvia is better than Splenda. A more appropriate statement would include

Thomas Fuller once stated “ Men are prone to revenge injuries than to requite kindness.” Fuller is saying that men or people more often seek revenge for when they have been wronged rather than reward the people who are kind to them. In other words, it’s easier to notice the bad things people do to us rather than the good things. For instance, in society today if someone is done wrong they instantly become mad or quickly react with revenge or negativity. While a good deed from an individual is simply ignored or completely overlooked.

The event happened under the same manager I have referred to in earlier posts. As I worked the error reports for the TPA (third party administrator), we received a report stating that the error's I claim to have fixed. In fact, after being accused of lying about the correction. She also communicated that I was unreliable to load the provider's records correctly. They stated that this error costs the company some amount of10 to 20 thousand dollars.