Look at me!
I am from Asia, the Chinese nationality in particular.
I follow my studies at middle school and my grades are excellent.
I like painting.
I have been playing the piano since the age of seven.
My childhood dream? My dream is to be a doctor.
There is no wonder, of course.
In the end, Asian-Americans are rumored to be an ideal minority,
We are expected to achieve higher degrees of success
Higher than the average population.
We are good at mathematics, we play the machines and consider very good recognition an unacceptable failure.
This is expected of us.
These stereotypes look good.
However, it should not be a courtesy
To be in the ranks of hardworking and successful?
These questions began to concern me two years ago,
And found that the example of the typical minority
Has penetrated the lives of Asian-American students beyond mere surface level.
I remember well the time I played the piano at a concert.
I was wrong – the fact was several errors –
I remember how deeply felt I was.
It was such a simple mistake that I did not notice, but it was like the end of the world to me.
The problem was that my standards were very high.
I am used to not being convinced less than perfect.
It is a common experience among many Asian-American peers.
I have seen friends collapse under the pressure
Because of their failure to test, or competition in mathematics in the classroom, for example.
Our personal standards are unbelievably high,
The result of common idealism around the minority.
The emergence of the highest standards associated with our Asian character
Sometimes causing a lot of pressure.
This costs students psychological, moral, and even scholastic suffering.
We learned to attach value to ourselves by quantitative measures.
And we draw our heartbreak if it happens and we were substandard.
We sacrifice ourselves with satisfaction and satisfaction, as if we have been studying diligently for a long time
Forgetting our social life.
This is the origin of a firm belief
That the more you misbehave, the less valuable and useful.
Because education takes place during the years of growth,
These attitudes have profound psychological effects.
One of my close friends recently took part in a national mathematics competition,
He was expected to qualify for the national role
Tell me how hard the pressure was for him to achieve good results,
Just because it is expected to do so.
He said he panicked in the face of difficult issues, and forgot how to solve them.
And that he doubted every letter he wrote.
And ended up failing to qualify for the national role by just one point.
After that, he spent many hours in his bed
He ponders for a long time;
We are emotionally emotionally burdened by these expectations.
Although the stereotyping of the ideal minority suggests imaginary concepts
That Asian-American children are ideal students
The needs of these students are usually overlooked and neglected.
Thus spreading feelings of isolation and despair in themselves.
As a result, as reported by the National Center for Health Statistics,
American girls of Asian origin aged between 15 and 24 years old
They record the second highest rate of suicides.
According to the American Psychological Association,
American students of Asian background were more likely than their white counterparts
To think about suicide.
In addition, the stereotype of the ideal of the minority inhibits teachers’ awareness
Needs of Asian students.
When I was in third grade and in every math class,
My teacher taught all Asian students in class a set of advanced questions
And ask us to step outside in the hallway to solve it
It was very confusing to me.
They did not realize
That despite my understanding of the material I learned in the chapter,
I’m just a third-grader, and I’m not a magical teaching machine
It can automatically deduce mathematical concepts.
The failure to meet the standards of academic success
Feelings of shame and incompetence can be born.
When Asian-American students fail to achieve excellent final scores.
People usually wonder, and maybe they pride themselves on being superior to you.
It’s up to some of them to tell me I’m a bad Asian.
Just because I’m not the best in math.
And when Asian-American students need help
They are reluctant to seek help.
Long ago, I never asked for help from teachers
Despite my real need for this.
Because that meant recognition of failure.
I thought I should not ask for any help.
This is a truly malicious way of thinking, and things should not go this way.
In order to alleviate these pressures on Asian-American students,
We must first raise awareness.
Like the problems of other minorities,
We must be exposed to the typical dangers of the ideal minority.
We must stop silencing our voices on the grounds of complacency.
Secondly, we must pay attention to the media and demand more attention
Featuring Asian Americans in films, television shows, and literature
And not only provide them as students or close friends.
We have to be support networks for each of us, so we can talk
Or to find a bond to resort to only.
Finally, we must redefine success.
You are not in your grades, nor in your marks, nor in your reward.
I know that as long as we have heard these statements before, it is time to truly believe in them.
The heart of a stereotype requires time.
Surely it will not happen overnight.
It may take generations.
But if we start today, our grandchildren or our children might be able to
To enjoy the freedom to be as they wish.
thank you.
(clap)
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