I’m not a writer, but I hope to share my story to empower Asian Americans. 

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    When I was in third grade, I had a hard time making friends. Although it was probably because I didn’t communicate well and was introverted, I found the fault in my appearance. 

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    Growing up in a mostly white community, I thought the only way for me to fit in and live “normally” was to force myself to not “look” and “act” like an Asian. I begged my parents to get my hair dyed and became embarrassed when my parents packed Korean food for lunch. I sometimes skipped lunch because I didn’t want others judging me. I was denying the utmost components of my identity.

 

    As I grew and matured, I slowly recovered from that toxic mindset. I came to realize that my racial identity wasn’t something that I should be ashamed of. Soon after I made real friends who loved the real me, I began to find pride in my own identity.

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I learned to love my black eyes and black hair. 

I learned to love my culture.

I learned to love my background. 

 

I know as I move forward in life, I will undoubtedly face judgements based on my background and ethnicity. 

And we will continue to fight until all races are treated equally. 

 

But what I want to say right now is that whatever comes in our way, we should never ever get discouraged by our race and appearance. 

I’ve made a promise with my third-grade-self that I would never ever feel that way again. 

I hope that you all reading this will make this promise with yourselves.