The only thing being an Asian American really means is that one is of Asian descent. That’s it. But speaking as an Asian American who lives many Asian American stereotypes, this is hardly the case for me and many others.
It’s weird to live surrounded by the American mentality that one can do anything one wishes to do, with all those messages from movies like “The Wizard of Oz†and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory†buzzing all throughout my mind. Yet I can never actualize those messages in my own life. My parents always wanted me to be a doctor or at least a STEM major when I was young, and I went along with them.
All my life, it seems, is bent on becoming successful. But unlike most people who are told to find their own definition of success, my definition of success has been stamped on me just for being Asian American. A prime goal for success as an Asian American is generally just to get extremely good grades in school, go to an extremely good college and get an extremely good job as a doctor or a scientist. That’s one of the greatest Asian American stereotypes out there, and it’s bled into my subconscious (I still can’t get over how I got a “B†on a PHL101 Critical Thinking test when I could’ve got an A.)
When I was in high school, I did well, grudging by with a 4.3 out of 5 GPA. I had a healthy selection of clubs and a job, and I ended up at the University of Rhode Island as a declared Chinese flagship and electrical engineering double major. During my formative, pre-college years, I was living (what I would call) like an Asian. But I was never extremely happy.
College has given me the opportunity to branch out. I’m no longer an engineer. I’m now an English and anthropology major with a minor in Chinese. I’ve lost a lot ever since I radically switched my major; I have to make up many credits and find a way to pay for my tuition by myself, since my parents will no longer fund my entire college tuition with majors that don’t promise as secure of a job. But then again, I’m no longer the depressed mess I was last year.
After a harrowing amount of experiences in college, my new definition for success is to be critically acclaimed for the books and films I plan on making in the future (we’ll see how I’m doing in a couple years). As a backup, I can always pursue one of many goals as an anthropologist, like discovering a new fossil and calling it a “Caisesaur.†But I do still feel the same internal pressures when my parents gave me strict guidelines for working.
The Asian American stereotype is, in a way, a serious impediment for many. We, as Asian Americans, seem to have some higher expectations to live up to. Yet in lieu of being outright academically smart, we also need to be street smart, musically intelligent, lawfully knowledgeable, physically fit, creatively strong, naturalistically intact and logically able. But while I am Asian American, I’m still just a human trying to fit in a crazy world- not a strict stereotype.