Week 2 - Bryan Ngo A01

Week 1:

Bryan Ngo

ASA 002

A01

It was definitely interesting to read Poon’s and Byrd’s article because they were writing about me; I was part of the statistics they were talking about. With the exception of my dad going to city college for 2 years, my parents didn’t really have a strong understanding of what the college application was like for public universities like UC Davis. Like what was stated in the article, many of the Asian American students, like myself, applying to college knew they had to apply because their parents told them so, despite the fact that many of their parents never attended college. So where do all of these parents get the notion that applying to college is the right path for their children? Networking. The article covers a lot on how parents influence a student’s decision, but where does this influence come from in the first place? My belief is that Asian American parents who want the best for their child understands the current position of the world. Parents read news and talk to other parents to essentially educate themselves on the best direction to drive their children. It’s no wonder why there are so many Asian computer scientists or Asian nurses. I am living proof of this idea! From my “friend group” that started in high school, 7 out of 11 males are Asian computer scientists and 4 out of 6 females are going into some medical field. Of course, this is only a very small sample, but I believe it’s representative of a lot of groups. These “Asian communities” that all drive in the same direction in terms of academics, obtain their roots from parents and their influence on a student, whether we want to believe it or not. I like to think that it was my decision to become a computer scientist at the end of the day, but did I really have a choice? Aren’t we all too afraid to escape our parent’s seemingly flawless master plan for success?

Question:

One thing that this journal didn’t mention a lot were the outliers. Although a small number, there are students who choose not to go to college? What kind of stories exist in that scenario, and is the success found there comparable to those who do go to college?

References:

Poon, O., & Byrd, A. (2013). Beyond Tiger Mom Anxiety: Ethnic, Gender and Generational Difference in Asian American College Access and Choices. Journal of College Admissions, 2013. Retrieved October 1, 2017

H. (2012, February 01). Retrieved October 01, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsLFRnl3zBc