Week 6 Christopher Esparza-Lezo Section 002

In Asian American Mental Health by New American Media, the Asian American experience in education suffers to achieve their full potential. Research conducted into top universities in North America like Cornell University and Stanford speak about the changes in regard to Asian American mental health by their campus’s Asian American centers and programs. The Model minority myth that stereotypes Asian’s as excellent in the fields of Stem and pressures by family expectation overwhelms them to the point of being unable to keep up with their rigorous course load. The extra baggage from Asian American family expectations hinders their mental wellbeing. Students explain there is significant stress associated with not failing their families who brought them into America to achieve a better life.

Reading these experiences of Asian American’s, I felt my personal background compares to the rest of Asian America student body in education. Being a minority myself there is a family responsibility within ability to do well in school. If it were not for my parents my siblings and I would have grown up in Mexico where the standard of education and ability to attend an institution is hindered by various personal and uncontrollable conditions. If I were to fail any class, I believe I failed my family.

In terms of the model minority myth I compared this minority model to Rauel de Leon’s power point on Asian Americans in Higher education. In the presentation he spoke a bout a triangle where Caucasians are at the top, Asians are in the middle and African Americans at the bottom. I feel Hispanics place somewhere in underneath and above certain races which gives us more privilege for having X number of characteristics, but still lacking full acceptance into society for not being white.

More so, like many Asian Americans who suffer from depression the Mental Health counselor in the college of letters and sciences at UC Davis diagnosed my anxiety with some level of depression. As students we feel overwhelmed by an anxiety to fail as we interpret our success to the extent, we can follow directions. For example: I currently am taking a introduction to Python course because my dream is to be a Computer Science major. Although I have the ambition to learn the subject Python can be difficult to comprehend and it results in me falling behind. Once this happens, I tend to feel not adequate to stay in the University.

One question about the readings is, do students recognize their issues to be related with a model minority perspective. In the moment of distress people internalize their problems as personal meaning no ones in the world has never had a similar situation. Could student depression be reduced by recognizing personal problems are not personal but a by product of being within this model minority structure?

In the picture above an Asian American a girl has her head down feeling depressed with boxing gloves. The women is trying her best to fight the stereotypes associated with her race. She is a resilient person but no matter how hard she try's the model minority myth places her at a disadvantage.

Work Cited

New American Media. On Some College Campus, A Focus On Asian American Mental Health, September 13, 2013