nwasianweekly.com
Aug. 27, 2005
Asian Equation
By Thang Dao
If there is one thing we have discovered while preparing this issue, it is that it is never easy to write about oneself, especially when there are so many descriptions imposed on us by other people.
To our parents we will never cease to be the careless kids who have to be taken care of all the time. To society many of us are already grownups who are not supposed to make any mistakes.
To many non-Asians we are either the smart, rich kids of the martial artists they have seen in movies like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Well, not all the stereotypes are untrue.
We do have the spirit of martial artists when fighting for victory in sports; some of us are defiwe we left kindergarten years ago, we sometimes want our parents to praise our success.
But we are so much more than that.
We are a generation of young people with dreams and ambitions, full of energy to contribute. We are not afraid to look toward the future, but we never fail to remember the past. We love our Asian cultures; yet we want to succeed in the larger American society, our home.
Most of all, we want to have fun, because life is too short not to enjoy.
The Asian Equation is how we would describe ourselves, an equation that encompasses all the elements that have shaped us as young people: our ancestors and families, the society we grew up in and as our particular lifestyle.
Some of us are fresh immigrants, while others grew up on the ideas and ideologies of the Western world. We carry in our hearts both Asia and America.
We are the new generation, inviting you in for a glimpse of our world, the wonderful world of the Asian Equation.
Thang Dao can be reached at scpnwan.com.
Aiming High, Making a Difference
Contributors to the third Youth Issue are: Front row, Cynthia Chang, Lanh
Lam, Andrea Louie, Patricia Durias, Wennie Khiet Hong. Second row, Genevieve
Lin, Ken Wong. Damien Kan is not pictured.
Youth Issue Editorial
Board
Coordinator: Thang Dao
Photos: Yoshiya Futakawa
Board: Patricia Durias, Carolyn Locke, Andrew Chen, Eugene Hsiang,
Elsie Cabanilla, Joanne Nguyen, Kirstie Chan, Andrea Louie, Fiona Dawn, Lanh
N. Lam, Yolanda Eng
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correspondence to:
Northwest Asian Weekly • P.O. Box 3468 • Seattle •
WA 98114
Tel: 206.223.5559 • Fax: 206.223.0626 • Email: scpnwan@nwlink.com
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