At the age of 4, I traveled to America with my family leaving behind my culture and ancestry to start a new life filled with new opportunities. At the age of 8, I began to lose my language as communication to my non-English speaking parents and grandparents became harder. At the age of 10, I vowed I would cut my Chinese identity from my life in order to fit in with my fellow classmates. At the age of 15, I lost the connection I had with my parents, and slowly began to lose my Chinese American Identity. At the age of 17, my eagerness to regain the understanding of my culture and language allowed me to challenged myself at the University of Florida.
Four years later, and as I am about to graduate with a minor in East Asian Languages with a concentration in Chinese, I have been able to acquire some culture that I lost as a young girl. My journey throughout college, being involved with Chinese language courses and the International Scholars program has expanded my mind and views of various global topics that I have not notice before. For example, I am more cognizant of other individual’s cultural practices as I am a current buddy to multiple international students through the University of Florida International Initiative program.
As my time at the UF is slowly coming to an end, I have asked myself various questions.
-What did I learn:
Some stuff I have learn not only through the program but my cultural experiences is my passion to help individuals like myself connect back to their culture. I was an active member within the Asian American Student Union connecting to various cultures such as Chinese, and Korean. I was also able to intern at Washington DC and work directly on legislation that connects to both Asian and Asian American Business owners to be able to offer them a set of support. Both of these experiences would definitely not have happened if I didn’t regain my passion to learn about my Chinese culture, but at the same time I have used what I learned to be empathetic towards the work I did.
-What area of your life was strengthened or improved by this program/experience?
Reflecting on my entire life I have spent most of it trying to deny my Chinese heritage. I rejected the food that I had to bring to lunch. I rejected the conversations I would have with my parents in our native language out in public. And ultimately I rejected getting close with my family so that I wouldn’t have any connections to China. As I am older now and preparing to enter a new era of my life, I have realized the 17 years I used to reject my culture was a wasted time. Being involved and deciding to take classes within the department of East Asian languages, I have learned a lot about the beauty of Chinese culture. I have been able to use what I learned to connect more with my family members and rebuild that bond that I had severed as a young child. Being able to participate in the program, and the overall experience has allowed me to grow personally and professionally. Not only am I able to appreciate various cultures, but I now have cultural competency for the professional world.
-How does your UF and ISP global learning experience connect to post-graduation in your personal, academic, and/or professional life?
As I am getting ready to graduate, I am preparing to enter into a company that not only deals with business domestically but also internationally. My fellow co-workers will be from all around the world including India and the United Kingdom. I think my experiences from taking Chinese languages classes, and being a participant within the International Scholars program will greatly impact my post-graduation life. I have learned to effectively communicate with individuals from various cultures. I am grateful for the experiences I had at the University of Florida, and now I am excited to take what I have learned and implement them in the next part of my journey.