Week 6 - Jesse Huang

Week 6

Jesse Huang

Section 001

In “On Some College Campuses, A Focus on Asian American Mental Health” by Katherine Kam, the main focus of the article centers around the connection between academic pressure, depression, and prevention. Kam's main point of discussion centers around the idea that students of Asian descent are prone to be suffer from depression because of several factors. She claims the universities have a responsibility to provide healthcare and establish programs to assist these students who are affected by their mental health. There is age old stigmatization of asian american students that proliferate expectations of high academic performance and no room for failure. Being unable to meet these standards meant that backlash and criticism were inevitable. Kam emphasizes that asian american students are burdened with both familial and societal expectations of doing well in school and getting a high paying job. There is little to no time for relaxation and play, and one must always be ahead of the competition, in fear of losing hopes of a good future. Growing up as a Chinese-American, I found myself resonation with Kam's article and agreed with her claims that society puts an unfair burden on model minorities. I was always expected to do well in technical studies such as mathematics or any area of science, humanities were less of an important focus on me. My parents would reinforce the concept of doing well in school and restricted certain privileges if my grades fell in school. This forced me to always feel pressured to do well in tests and resulted in me staying up very late on school days. Peers would seek me for help in math because they always assumed I excelled in math, however, math is actually my worst subject which was ironic since i'm supposed to be good at math as an Asian. This unfair assumption led to feelings of sadness and frustration. Knowing that i'm supposed to be inherently good at a subject and being the complete opposites conjured sadness and anger. Kam's articles certainly points out the unfair treatment of model minorities and urges college campuses to establish programs to assist those who are depressed and burdened by these expectations. Allowing peer to peer connection over such matters promotes mental health awareness and brings these issues to light. Breaking these stereotypes of asian students is important to fostering a positive learning environment and relieves stress. Taking initial steps to bringing down such stigmas is one of many ways to helping improve mental health and fighting against the injustice of societal expectations.

Question: From where did the expectation that model minorities must excel in academics come from? Was it a conception generated from american society? or a stigma placed on asians themselves?

References:

Kam, K. 2013. “On Some College Campuses, A Focus On Asian American Mental Health.” Retrieved October 28, 2017.

“Model Minority: Unintentionally Empowering Oppression.” UNAVSA, unavsa.org/2017/05/model-minority-unintentionally-empowering-oppression/.