Influences
Identifying as a Chinese-Canadian
When I was younger, I really struggled with my identity as a visible minority second-generation Chinese-Canadian and desperately wanted to be a 'real' Canadian, which to me at the time meant being white. For a long period of my childhood and youth, I refused to speak Cantonese or eat any Chinese food as a way of rejecting my ethnicity. At the same time that I felt that I did not fully belong to the Chinese part of me, I did not belong to the Canadian part either and I had to constantly negotiate between these two aspects of myself. It took countless years to learn to accept who I am and be grateful that I am a person of two cultures, but I continue to struggle with my own issues surrounding internalized racism. Immigrant family Growing up as part of an immigrant family has given me valuable insight and understanding into the compounded disadvantages, oppressions and obstacles, such as language barriers, systemic marginalization, racism, that immigrants and refugees may face. I see some members of my family struggling with low-wage manual labour jobs despite having skills and experience from prior to immigration that should support them in finding better employment. It has also given me insight into my own privileges and oppressions as a Canadian-born Chinese-Canadian. Also, racial discrimination is very much so a part of my everyday reality and on more than one occasion I have experienced brazen racism with taunts of, 'go home.' Vancouver I feel very fortunate to have been born and raised in a city as multicultural as Vancouver as such a context fosters both positive and negative experiences. To have friends from many varied cultural backgrounds, I feel, helped me become a more open-minded and accepting person. In a city of such diversity though, there is also a lot of both blatant and underlying racism. In addition to being highly multicultural, Vancouver is a city with huge economic disparities. With Chinatown as part of the disadvantaged low-income community of the Downtown Eastside, I was exposed to stark social disparity from an early age. I later on had the opportunities to have various volunteer experiences in the Downtown Eastside which solidified my desire to pursue a career in social work. Travel Ever since I left the North American continent for the first time at age 23, I have been compelled to keep exploring. My travels taught me how to be open, curious, and adaptable, expanded my world beyond Vancouver, and shaped my views, values and who I am essentially as a person. I could study subjects such as social inequality and globalization in the classroom but I could not truly appreciate the diverse experiences of people around the world and how people can create change for themselves until I began travelling. Also, through my travels I have been fortunate to have met so many incredible people and gained friends from all over the globe. Through them, I could learn about their cultures, lifestyles, values, and worldviews, which encouraged my path towards working cross-culturally. |
"Remember that wherever your
heart is, there you will find your treasure." - Paulo Coelho |