Personal Narrative: Growing Up As An East Asian In America

One’s identity has the ability to play a central role in one’s schooling experience and in return, affect the way they perceive the world around them. Growing up in an Asian household located in a predominately Asian American neighborhood located in the San Gabriel Valley, I always identified myself strongly to my race and took pride in being a first generation Asian American child. Race has definitely affected my schooling experience in many different ways, both positively and negatively. In addition, there were a variety of other aspects such as stereotypical gender roles and socioeconomic class status which factored into the way I learned in the U.S. education system. In this paper, I will examine how race, class, and gender played a big role throughout my schooling experience.

What this novel does not touch on is the harsh levels of discrimination that some Asian-American families faced during the 20th centuries, some people telling at them to go back to Vietnam, Korea, or wherever they came from, some refusing service, perhaps throwing them out for being different, similarly to how African-Americans were treated during that time, and similar to how some Muslims are being treated today. However, more insidious than moments of outright hostility, and maybe more powerful, are the constant weak reminders that you’re different, that you’re not one of them. The “sign at the Peking Express” (Ng 193), the “little boys on the playground, stretching their eyes to slits with their fingers” (Ng 193), you even “saw it when waitresses and policemen and bus drivers spoke slowly to you, in simple words, as if you might not understand” (Ng 193). All these tiny things, these little reminders that you’re not the same as everyone else around you, may have more impact on the people being discriminated against than blatant in-your-face

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 air would always be humid and stuffy while riding the bus to school, and the slightest bump in the road would result in tossing up the kids like salad. The backseat would provide carriage for all the popular and tough kids shouting out at pedestrians on the street or flipping off a middle finger to the bus driver that would shout for them to calm down. I despised those kids in the back. They were the same people that made my life a living hell, while growing up and attending an American school.

I am a girl with two heads. At home, I wear my Chinese head, in school I wear my English head. Being an Asian, or Chinese, as it is commonly referred to, my culture plays a key role in the development of who I am and what I do, my personal identity. An identity is the distinguishing character or personality of an individual. Parents are often one of the key factors of this culturally developed personal identity.

Asians are often stereotyped to be “extremely intelligent.” (Cultural Stereotypes). Today in society, Asians are who we call the “nerds.” When you think about Asians, you think about them coming from a very high class family, making straight A’s and if they didn’t bring home an A, they would have to leave their home in addition, not return because it would be a disgrace to the family. But in all actuality, not all Asians are like that. In some Asian households, they can be very warm-loving and not harsh at all. With parents, I can understand why they would want us to succeed but harsh punishments aren't the answer. Discipling isn't always the answer. Motivation and assurance is key. Mexicans are very criticized and often judged by their way of living. Mexicans are said to be workaholics. Also in the Hollywood movies, they’re always doing yard work, being maids, housekeepers, nanny’s etc.. The movie a haunted house starring Marlon Wayans, his character Malcolm lived next door to a Latino who often did yard work and had a low rider. Not all Mexicans do or have those things. Mexicans are not that bad. Asians are not that bad. African Americans are not that

The pain and the suffering, the oppression, and the exclusion all describe the history of Asia America. When they arrived to the United States, they become labeled as Asians. These Asians come from Japan, China, Korea, Laos, Thailand, and many other diverse countries in the Eastern hemisphere. These people wanted to escape from their impoverished lives as the West continued to infiltrate their motherland. They saw America as the promise land filled with opportunity to succeed in life. Yet due to the discrimination placed from society and continual unfair

After reading Min Zhou and Jennifer Lee’s article From Unassimilable to Exceptional: the Rise of Asian Americans and “Stereotype Promise,” I think about my own experience as an Asian American student within a predominately white school and how the stereotype promise plays a big part in my life.

I came from China to America in 2015. Because I was new to here and can’t speak English very well, my parents advised me to go to college to improve my English. At the beginning, I was so confused about everything around me. The new environment was unfamiliar to me, and besides, I also felt very scared, since I didn’t know what kind of life would be in front of me. Having no other choice, I decided to start with going to college. In the first semester, I took the math and sociology class, totally 8 units. Because I was unfamiliar with the system how America students choose the class, I dare not to take so many classes. In the process, I got to know that the education in America is quite different with that in China. Students can ask questions

Living in the United States shaped my character. When I was young my family moved from refugee. In the beginning life was tough getting adjusted to the american life. At a young age I understood that some people looked down upon me because of my background. I had a hard time getting along with other students because of cultural clash. After a while I was able to understand the American culture. My mom was a single parent with six other children and the only place we could find to live in was a neighborhood that was not safe. My mother would never allow us to go outside because she was afraid that we would get in trouble. It was not until college that I was able to understand all I was missing out in the world.

The Asian American success frame not only emphasizes the role of efforts, but also defines success as straight As, admission to elite universities, and the top four professions—lawyer, doctor, engineer, and pharmacist. Believing that social mobility is possible in the United States, immigrant parents ensure their children’s success by strictly adhering to this success frame. At school, Asian Americans benefit from what Lee and Zhou call the “stereotype promise”—the promise of being viewed through the lesn of a positive stereotype. Because teachers automatically associate achievement with Asian American ethnoracial groups, even the mediocre Asian American students are given the benefit of the doubt. As a result, students who are given the second chance work hard and excel academically and this often leads to their confirming of the stereotype. Thus, Asian Americans do not simply have the “right” culture to excel in the United States; the Asian American culture emerged as a result of historical, legal, institutional, and social psychological processes of various actors in the contemporary American

Ever since I came to the United States in 2004, I felt different and I still do now. I wasn’t raised the materialistic type because I could barely get my basic needs in Thailand. I wasn’t what anyone would called “a modern guy”. Being raised with little things to cherish, I grew up to be satisfy in what I have. Although, it seems that with my Thailand clothing and mushroom haircut, I wasn’t the best kid to fit in. I was stereotype as an HTT otherwise known as Hmong kids from Thailand. My intellectual capacity and talent were judge by the other Hmong kids around me. I apparently was destine to fail my educational career and live with my parents till I’m old and grumpy. I knew that I wasn’t smart or talented, but I wanted to prove them wrong.

At a young age I was thought by my parents to ignore people who constantly make fun of me. Back to my younger days, I was always teased by my classmates and continually get called “China.” People were stereotyping and I was being labeled down because I was Asian. Students used to think I was very smart, some were even making fun of me because of my accent and how I speak. Last but not least was all Asians were considered “Chinese”

We live in a world which is full of pressure where we have been suffocated from an early age, pushed around as well as mentally and physically drained. The world seems somewhat predictable, as history does repeat itself. One thing that will never go away is expectations. You are expected to do what other people want you to do, especially by our parents, which is more often than not, better than what we are currently doing. Parents are chasing lost dreams and to make up for their own failed aspirations, they push their children to live out their dreams. This is a prevalent issue in society, in fact, it is a form of

Don’t get me wrong, I was aware that I was Asian. I had a different culture at home from my friends. They didn’t eat rice nearly as often as I did. They didn’t see chopsticks as just another utensil for the table, but as an exotic tool. They didn’t speak Chinese at home. But race was never something that mattered in elementary school. People weren 't black, white, yellow. They were classmates, friends. That is, until Peter arrived. It was third grade when I began to see through the tinted lens of skin color. As I was the only other Asian boy in the grade, my teachers told me to become friends with the new Chinese kid, to help him. It’s funny, now some would classify that as a microaggression: let the Chinese kid play with another Asian kid. Why can’t the new kid just make his own friends? Regardless, I would spend part recess and after school with Peter, the new kid that was “weird” and had no friends.