When I was growing up, I lived in a suburb of Seattle: Bellevue. Our neighborhood wasn’t very diverse at all, but when I was really young, I didn’t really notice. All of my friends were white, and until I started school, I think I thought I was too. I knew I looked different, but I didn’t really understand that that meant I was different. I was never treated differently, so it never crossed my mind that it would or could be a problem.
When I started kindergarten at Somerset Elementary School I distinctly remember someone asking me if I knew karate. I had no idea what he meant and someone had to explain it to me. And I was pissed. I told him I did know karate and kicked him. But, suddenly I was aware of the fact that I was Asian and all of the other ethnicities. I could literally count on two hands the number of people that weren’t white at our school.
What’s crazy is that now the exact opposite is true. Somerset is over 50% Asian. Check it out!
I can’t imagine what it would be like growing up in that environment. I was always so uncomfortable growing up Asian. There was only one other person that could identify with me, but were never talked about it. Instead, we would make-believe we were twins named Stacy and Tracy who’s boyfriends were Brad and Chad. So sad…
It wasn’t until college that I finally embraced who I was and became comfortable with being different, or at UW, the same as everyone else. LOL
Go Asians!
