Coffee shop conversations with an Asian American writer.
It's been a long ten years. It's been an even longer twenty years. September 11, 2001 I was 7 years old. Sometimes, I tell people I was 6, but for some reason, I can never remember those details. I remember my second grade teacher, Mrs. Murphy, and I remember being picked up that day from …
Continue reading "Permanence in Tragedy – Growing Up After 9/11"
It was a fairly easy decision to start therapy. At the time I was still working for Starbucks, and the pandemic had just started. Business were starting to close and the news reports of Asian hate crimes began to sky rocket. While most of my peers groaned over the thought of having nothing to do, …
Continue reading "I Was in Therapy for a Year During the Pandemic – Here’s Some of What I Learned"
Once you reach 23, you start to realize that childhood dreams are really a concept you either find terribly hilarious or extremely ironic. Child-like reasons like “I want to be a veterinarian because I love animals” turn into “Wait, I’m not actually smart enough of dedicated enough to go through Vet school.” When I was in …
One year ago, I penned an article aimed towards the world and the mistreatment of Asian Americans in the wake of COVID-19. And one year ago, I was met with the most hate I’ve ever seen in my life. I won't entertain you with the hate comments because, honestly, I can't even bring myself to revisit …
Two days ago, I sat down in the midst of the quarantine monotony and watched one of my favorite movies - Crazy Rich Asians. As I sat and reminded myself how much the Asian community gathered together, it helped me rekindle the pride I had in my culture. For a moment, the world slowly understood …
If you watched the Oscars last night, you would've seen some new faces - Bong Joon Ho, a director from South Korea, received four awards last night including "Best Picture," and the response was, unfortunately, very skewed. Since the introduction of Crazy Rich Asians to American audiences as well as the rise of the KPOP …
In August 2013, I got hired for my first official retail job: being a sales associate for Teavana, at the time part of the Starbucks franchise. By January 2017, my location had officially closed, and I became a Starbucks barista. Let me start this off by saying I never had any intention of working for …
There are two things that this world can agree on: People deserve credit for what they’ve rightfully accomplished and created. If you have achieved something that is life-changing or moving, your name deserves to be tied to it. The second: We hate false advertisements. It’s no secret that there have been some stirring articles swimming …
Continue reading "An Open Letter to the Non-Asian Owners of Asian Restaurants,"
I have always known feminism to be explicitly: the movement that strives for equality between genders (more or less). In today’s booming social media scene however, it seems like the feminist movement is a lot louder and far more violent than I’d expected it to be. To provide some background on this article: I’m part …
For those of you who don’t know Melanie Martinez, she was a hot commodity after her first appearance on The Voice because of her quirky looks and personality paired with her signature raspy voice. Following her elimination of the program, she gained further popularity with her eccentric sound, later appearing in the televised advertisements for …
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