Assignment 22: Katie Chen

The circumstances that developed my character aren't really that unusual for a child of immigrants. However, it might be categorized as "unusual" for anyone else at our predominately white school.

So my childhood was probably pretty different than most people's. 

I never learned how to properly eat with a fork and knife until I was 14 because I primarily used chopsticks at home. 

Chinese New Year was a better holiday than Christmas for me because of the fireworks and red packets (with cash inside them). 

I started going to preschool at age 2 so I could learn English as I was primarily speaking Chinese at home and my parents didn't know how to teach me English.

My favorite childhood cartoons were a mix of what was on Disney Channel and whatever my mom had on VHS tapes.

My hard work in school to get better grades was often dismissed. People said it didn't matter that I worked hard, I "was Asian, it should come naturally to me."

Putting my "unusual" childhood aside, I am grateful and extremely proud to be a daughter of immigrants. I've been able to travel to China multiple times, each time becoming more and more proud of my heritage. My parents started with the clothes on their back and some suitcases in the trunk of an old car. They had to work for everything, they couldn't take anything for granted, and they transferred those values to me.