By: Kevin
I’m just your run of the mill Asian kid. I also happen to be from Southern California, born and raised. Which makes me a Valley boy, born and raised. Living in this particular part of the Valley doesn’t give a person much of a chance to really know the definition of being Asian. Or rather, it’s tough to realize your own cultural identity when your surroundings are so diversified. My parents were more concerned with me doing well in school and didn’t really take the time to teach me more about my culture. They wanted me to be successful, so I can’t really complain about that. Though now, I feel a bit less than complete when my parents speak to each other in Vietnamese and I can’t understand most, if any, of their conversation.
Most of my life was spent just trying to fit in and not be noticed at school. I simply didn’t care enough about my own culture, about speaking the language or anything like that. I just wanted to have fun with my friends and not worry about anything serious. I coasted through high school oblivious to anything outside of what I knew, which was school. Understanding how little I knew about myself and those around me came only when I entered college and left the Valley.
Over the years, though, I’ve come to realize how important it is to have pride in yourself and your culture. For instance, I would have friends asking me questions about Vietnamese culture, genuinely interested, and didn’t have a reply to give them. I just didn’t know, and I was left dumbfounded by questions about my own heritage. The people who asked these questions had more interest in it than I did, and so I began to think that there might be something not so right about the situation. So I began to ask questions. Learned a little bit, here and there, hoping to glean something from the adults and their stories. I joined a Vietnamese Student Association (VSA) as well, hoping to meet more people who are around my age with an interest in Vietnamese culture and those who wanted to share their knowledge with others.
VSA was a learning experience for me, as I’d always been so used to just being the typical Californian, and had never really known anything about being Asian. VSA gave me a chance to do learn and experience this in a different way, and I jumped at this opportunity. It’s a similar situation with Halfway, because it motivates me to not only learn more about myself and my culture, but also different aspects of others.
I’m still not sure what I have to offer Halfway as of yet, but as I learn more and better myself, I’m sure I can be more sure of myself and my words. This is, ultimately what joining the crew at Halfway is about for me. I look at this opportunity as a valuable experience in enriching myself and becoming someone of whom I, and those around me, can be proud. 
Kevin is a Halfway Staff Writer.
May 2nd, 2005 at 12:33 am
Kevin, your experience mirrors so much of my own. Growing up, I was the only of three children to not learn our native language to at least some degree (I was the youngest). It was something I didn’t even notice given that my elementary school was predominantly white. It’s weird now because out of my Asian friends, I’m probably the most concerned with ‘Asian’ issues — culture, politics, identity, racism, etc. And yet, I’m probably the furthest removed from actual Asian/Filipino culture seeing as I don’t speak the language, I’m still learning about the food, I don’t have any fond memories of the Islands (seeing as I’ve only been there once and that was when I was four)…and I read the subtitles when watching the movies.