By Christina Nguyen
SYLP student
As an Asian American, you have to do what people tell you to do in order to “succeed.” There is too much pressure on our shoulders, whether it’s listening to parents grumble about chores to knowing who to fall in love with.
Letting people tell you what you want isn’t the key to success.
Instead, knowing what you love and being into what you love is the right way to go. Everyone has opinions, and I mean everyone. Whether it’s the haters or the lovers, everyone has their two cents … especially parents.
Parents, we as children don’t ask for much except for support and for you to listen to what we have to say. In the Asian culture, parents don’t ask much except for what we want for dinner — I mean, they do ask more — but what I’m trying to say is that we don’t connect much with our folks because of how the past generations were raised.
Then there is love. From what ethnicity our future significant others are to how much money they will make for your future family. People have their opinions, especially parents. Honestly, I’m young and haven’t ventured into the dating world, so I wouldn’t know. But from looking at other people’s situations, I can see that finding love is frustrating with parental interference.
What does the word love mean? Does it mean to please your parents and grab the only Asian guy that’s closest to you? No. Does it mean marry a man who will treat you wrong even though he’s filthy rich? No.
Will it mean finding someone who loves you for who you are, in any situation you’re in and any race? Yes! Of course! You need to find someone for yourself, not just a plastic doll your parents made for you to fall in love with.
“Don’t date during high school, finish your studies, then you can settle down later,” my mother would always say.
“Be a doctor. They make good money,” my father would always tell me. Am I just listening to the voices outside my head or listening to my heart? Well, first off … I’d love to study in the medical field. I’m positive on that. But I’m still deciding if I want to be a doctor.
Find an Asian love in high school? The thought comes, but I’d much rather join clubs. But later on in life, I will have passion for every ounce of every day of my life and not let anyone stop me from doing what I love. ♦
Editor’s note: The ideas here do not necessarily represent Northwest Asian Weekly’s stance.