Week 2 - Andy Ho - A03

The article “Beyond Tiger Mom Anxiety: Ethnic, Gender and Generational Differences in Asian American College Access and Choices” by OiYan Pool and Ajani Byrd reflects perfectly the truth of how Asian American choose their college or even their career based on their parents’ opinions. I know this well because I was born and raised in Vietnam (a Southeast Asian country) before I came here. It is not surprising that my college choice was also depended on my parent’s opinion. My mom used to tell me about fantasy in life: “Study well son. Get a degree, and get a good job. Then you don’t have to find any girl. They‘ll come looking for you!" Therefore, my mom expected me to do well on every subject. Obviously, she was also raised in a society where people value your education level the most. Indeed, there is nothing wrong with her expectation because it is also good for my own sake. I was so naïve back then so I completely believed everything she said. However, things didn’t go as planned. I was very good at chemistry when I took my first general chemistry class at a community college a few years ago. A lot of girls knew about this, so they followed me and asked me for help. I was very happy at that time. However, something happened next quarter and I didn’t do so well in that class. Those girls started to leave me. This hurt my feelings a lot. That was the time that I realized “Life is so ruthless!” The findings of OiYan Pool also showed that the influence of parents’ opinions mattered to most Asian Americans. After that mishap, I stopped living up to my mom’s expectation. I questioned myself: “If I can’t make a decision and keep living to up her expectation, where will my life end up?” The future is in my hand, so I should take it and make my dream happen.

Question: Are you willing to jump off the conveyor belt and follow your dream?        

Reference:

- Byrd, A., & Poon, O. (2013). Beyond Tiger Mom Anxiety"Ethnic, Gender and Generational difference in Asian American College Access and Choices. Journal of College Admission. 

 - Oh Ling Ling. Retrieved from "https://imgur.com/gallery/bpZVa/comment/529723581"