I’m not top of my class or star of the Science Fair. I don’t excel at computers and Math really isn’t my thing. I don’t have a black belt in karate and my parents don’t own a Chinese restaurant. People assume and mistaken me to be Chinese because of my eyes. They can’t tell the different between all Asians.
My whole life has revolved around school. I would get books to study from Christmas and birthday present. Math Science, etc. the list goes on. I got an SAT book my freshman year as a Christmas present. My vacation would also mean studying. “More studying to beat the other kids in school,” my family would say. I once finish a whole level of kumon in one week. I constantly push myself to work harder and harder. I remember my aunt trying to teach me how to read her college paper at age ten. When I couldn’t pronoun the words right, it was an embarrassment to everyone. I always get the term that Asian are smart, that I have to be a doctor or find a cure for something. I also get stupid phrases like, “Oh your not Asian, your Vietnamese and Vietnam is not in Asia, it’s in China” or “Asian people can’t dance, you guys study too much.

Being the oldest in the family and the first to enter high school in America wasn’t easy. My family learned Calculus, Biology, Physics, and Statistic in middle school. Sometimes I feel like the idiot one in the family because I didn’t learn any of those classes in middle. Everything I do I feel that I disappoint them. I used to hit myself with a pencil when I didn’t do a math problem right. I feel like I don’t belong here or I’m not like the rest of the family. I don’t feel like I’m a real Vietnamese girl that I’m not like the other Vietnamese people in this world. But now, I learn to accept for who I am. I learn to feel confident in the things that I do. I learn that being different is ok. I mean sure, Chemistry never got my attention and I can never know anything about HTML, but I never gave up on anything. I work harder and harder each and everyday.

So I am different. I like music, theater, and dance. I love to argue and debate until I get to my point. Writing is something that I do best and I love to learn about History and the government. I’m not your average Asian girl. I’m different. I don’t have a Ph.D in anything yet. I don’t speak Chinese and my parents aren’t doctors. I can’t do Geometry to save my life and I don’t know the periodic table by heart. I still have black hair and yes my eyes are still small, but which Vietnamese doesn’t have any of that.

So put past the stereotype that people look at. Look past the skin color and my eyes. And if you look deep enough, you would notice that I’m just other girl.