Personal Narrative: My Stereotypes Involved In A School

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.

I differed from the majority. I was never into pop music, never into fashion, never into celebrities or idols. However, I was not aware of this until I reached an age where my peers in school no longer accepted my differentiating thoughts.

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

The schools I went to before third grade had a strong Asian population. Asians were the majority; there were rarely any non-Asians in those schools. During that time, I was allowed to stay innocent and uncaring of what others thought of me. It was a pity those golden days couldn’t last longer. The school I transferred to for the remainder of my elementary education had an extremely low Asian rate. In fact, you could have listed all the Asians in the school with only one hand. With little to none Eastern Asians, my parents pushed me to work harder. Unbeknownst to them, they were trying to mold me into the stereotypical smart Asian. The changes were subtle at first since they

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.

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.

Everyone feels pressured to excel in school, and this is especially true for Asian American students. The stereotype that all Asians are smart is a common label that defines the model minority stereotype. It consists of Asians being labeled as one group where they are all intelligent in the sense of being naturally good at math, science, and technology, as well as being hard-working, self-reliant, uncomplaining, and never in need of help from anyone (“Model Minority Stereotype”). This racial stereotype has an adverse influence on college admissions, increases academic struggling, and raises mental health issues. Although the model minority stereotype may seem positive because it portrays Asian Americans as geniuses, it is actually quite harmful.

Asian-American students from widely divergent backgrounds have tended to be grouped together under the “model minority” stereotype. In result, a misconception that Asian students are conscientious, brainy and successful made teachers became in unattentive to those Asian-Americans who we may label them as unsuccessful groups.

The media portrays high schools being full of identity stereotypes, whether it is in movies, TV shows, or sometimes music. Each school has the group of star athletes, the kids bound for broadway, and the kids who could become the next Einstein. Every show or movie has the same supporting character who each belonged to different cliques.

Being good or proficient in school activities or subject for Asian children, not only symbolized how hard the child works but also betray among his/her family and the environment surrounding it. Asian parents do not make excuses for their children's failures. Family members are encouraged to do their best because failure would bring shame and embarrassment not only to them personally but to their whole family. They don't blame the teacher, the school, or the system. They just hold their child responsible for his/her academic achievements. Asian American students are positively stereotyped as smart, high-achieving and hard working. Childrens are abiding by social rules of their Asian culture. Therefore, they are likely to be placed in competitive

Whether the Asian American students are excelling academically or struggling in school, it is absolutely necessary to recognize and acknowledge that they experience extra social pressure and academic stress under society 's expectations of the "model minority." The false stereotype that Asian American students are "whiz kids" and seemingly immune from behavioral or psychological distresses ultimately prevents educators from acknowledging academic and emotional problems in this population and also discourages them from seeking needed help. More importantly, the effects of this stereotyping limits students ' future

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 was especially bored. I knew it would happen again. Addison was competing in a Glamour Girl pageant, but I had to go. I knew she would win and I was proud of her, but I had to practice the clarinet in my school band. Suddenly the announcer calls out my identical sister, Addison Hand, onstage. She had won $500 plus a 6” tall trophy. Addison and I are exact opposites except for our faces. She is an extrovert and popular and I am an introvert and nerdy. She came off stage acting so surprised that she won. “Great job Addi!” I said running up to her. She ran right past me into the arms of her boyfriend, Brady Anderson. Brady is a cute high school stereotype boy, plays football, gets B’s and has the cutest girls in school being his girlfriends.

Though we may say words don’t hurt us, they do in one form or another. By the middle of fourth grade instead of being known as the nice girl as I was in my old school, I became the outcast. It all began when one of the girls in my group had a comment about why I was in school when I could be doing her yard work. It was the furthermost embarrassing moment in my entire life, and while all the students laughed uncontrollably all I could do is hide my face in shame. This moment had sparked the never ending bullying that was my fourth and fifth-grade year. While walking the hallway’s boys would call me “illegal” and, of course, a “wetback”. Though I find it humorous now, this was undoubtedly the ultimate dilemma I faced living in Georgia. Two

Many times, Asian Americans/Indians come to the United States with a great background in education, but sometimes they may come to America "as refugees from war-torn countries with interrupted studies" (Ariza, p. 123, 2009). When incorporating Asian Americans/Indians into my classroom, I also need to understand their culture and where they come from. To Asian American students, "[f]amily welfare is considered more important than individual welfare, so failing in school will reflect on the family as a unit" (Ariza, p. 124, 2009). Koreans also believe the a "peer is someone who was born the same year" (Ariza, p. 131, 2009), so as a teacher, one might find it difficult getting Asian American students to connect to other students. By having students work in groups, this will help ease Asian American students into developing better connections and friendships. Asian American parents have expect the best from their children, which oftentimes causes stress on the