I am a model minority. My parents are both working and own a decently sized business. My parents have high standards for me. I have to get straight A’s in school. I must be at the top of my class. I must have a lot of extracurricular subjects such as music, computer science, etc. I like engineering, law, business, just like all other Asian kids. I am the president of several school clubs. I am the captain and coach of my fencing club. I have won several awards in the past. I have achieved all this despite I am Asian, and I am not white (clearly). Did I ever feel racism towards myself? No, because I can shrug them off, and ignore them. How do you ask? because I know whoever is saying those mean words are worse than me they fear me, I am their deepest nightmare. I am confident as a person because of my successes. I do not feel inferior to anyone because of my skin colour. How did I achieve all this? While they were playing, I was studying. While they were sleeping, I was training. While they were resting, I was practicing. Do I regret this? Why should I? I had a brilliant childhood. I was extremely effective because I have gotten used to the workload early on. So while they were struggling with simple school work, I was able to move on to my personal project that I enjoy. They might think of discriminatory thoughts, but they always come to me to ask for help because they know I am reliable. I have never turned them down because of their past. I embrace their present self and be as helpful as I can. I think my success has come from the success of my parents and grandparents. For three generations our family has worked hard. We left the village to live in a town, then left the town to work in the city, then left the city to the world. Without the hard work and the foundation of my ancestors, I will be nothing. My parents are hard-working and stringent people. They work for hours without rest. They would literally work themselves sick. I have never understood why they worked so hard as a kid. Now I do. They worked hard for me, they wanted me to study, they didn’t want me to worry, their faith was me, their child. I would also contribute this ideology to Confucius, one of the most influential philosophers in Chinese history. All this being said, I am on the positive side of the model minority but there is always a negative side. There are many who worked but never succeeded, my grandparents always said: “We are lucky because if we work hard we earn what we deserve, we are not lucky because we don’t get anything handed to us. Many works, however, but they don’t earn what they deserve, remember, we are lucky, but not god chose.” I believe the model minority myth is true for many because a myth needs inspiration. I am proud to be a model minority and am grateful for my success. What are your stories?
