ccanales
Oct 6, 2013
Undergraduate / I come from two different cultures; UC Personal Statement [6]
Hi all! This took me a while to write, and I still don't know if I wrote it well enough. So if any of you would like to read this essay, and critique on it, it'd be really helpful! I don't mind harsh criticism. Thank you!
1.
Anyone can have a major influence on who you become, whether it is your friends, teachers, or peers. But the people who really who shaped my dreams, and who shaped me into the person I am today, is my family.
I come from two different cultures, my mother being Chinese, and my father being Mexican. For the most part, I get the best of both worlds. I get to celebrate different holidays, eat different dishes, and I have two different cultured families to interact with. For a short while though, it was a bit difficult being both races.
Growing up, I was learning both Spanish and Chinese. Talking to my mom and her side of the family, my dad and his side of the family, I was going back and forth, learning different jokes from both sides, and learning new slang words. I have eaten a wide variety of foods in my life, which is a plus.
A lot of people can not tell what race I am, and assume I am Filipino. I do not blame them, since Filipinos do have a Hispanic-sounding last name. In elementary school, it was a burden I had to carry. Boys at a young age can be really nice, or they can be the cruelest living beings. The boys I knew in my elementary school were the cruel ones. For a long time, up until the 4th grade, they did not believe I was half-Chinese and Half-Mexican. They would come up to me and take their fingers to slant their eyes, trying to make themselves look Asian, or ask where my chopsticks were, they also liked to make fun of me for eating rice, which was ridiculous, since everyone eats rice, not just Asians.
In the beginning, I was really disturbed and hurt that people could act this way. I would go home and cry to my parents. They told me something I would never forget, "Do not pay attention to what people say, or laugh about you, because only you know yourself better than anyone else." After they said this, I engraved it into my head, and lived by this. I learned to be a stronger person because of this. Growing up, I slowly learned that some things do not have to be taken so seriously. Now, I just joke along if someone does the occasional Asian stereotype, because it does not offend me anymore, I just genuinely laugh, because laughing is the best way to go.
As I look back to this minor bullying stage, I realized this shaped my aspiration of majoring in psychology. Being bullied about the way I look made me stronger. I learned how to deal with negative people. I also have my parents to thank for shaping me into the person I am today.
Hi all! This took me a while to write, and I still don't know if I wrote it well enough. So if any of you would like to read this essay, and critique on it, it'd be really helpful! I don't mind harsh criticism. Thank you!
1.
Anyone can have a major influence on who you become, whether it is your friends, teachers, or peers. But the people who really who shaped my dreams, and who shaped me into the person I am today, is my family.
I come from two different cultures, my mother being Chinese, and my father being Mexican. For the most part, I get the best of both worlds. I get to celebrate different holidays, eat different dishes, and I have two different cultured families to interact with. For a short while though, it was a bit difficult being both races.
Growing up, I was learning both Spanish and Chinese. Talking to my mom and her side of the family, my dad and his side of the family, I was going back and forth, learning different jokes from both sides, and learning new slang words. I have eaten a wide variety of foods in my life, which is a plus.
A lot of people can not tell what race I am, and assume I am Filipino. I do not blame them, since Filipinos do have a Hispanic-sounding last name. In elementary school, it was a burden I had to carry. Boys at a young age can be really nice, or they can be the cruelest living beings. The boys I knew in my elementary school were the cruel ones. For a long time, up until the 4th grade, they did not believe I was half-Chinese and Half-Mexican. They would come up to me and take their fingers to slant their eyes, trying to make themselves look Asian, or ask where my chopsticks were, they also liked to make fun of me for eating rice, which was ridiculous, since everyone eats rice, not just Asians.
In the beginning, I was really disturbed and hurt that people could act this way. I would go home and cry to my parents. They told me something I would never forget, "Do not pay attention to what people say, or laugh about you, because only you know yourself better than anyone else." After they said this, I engraved it into my head, and lived by this. I learned to be a stronger person because of this. Growing up, I slowly learned that some things do not have to be taken so seriously. Now, I just joke along if someone does the occasional Asian stereotype, because it does not offend me anymore, I just genuinely laugh, because laughing is the best way to go.
As I look back to this minor bullying stage, I realized this shaped my aspiration of majoring in psychology. Being bullied about the way I look made me stronger. I learned how to deal with negative people. I also have my parents to thank for shaping me into the person I am today.