...

At the moment, it is what we call “dead week” where all the papers are due. However for me it was last week, where I had around 4 papers due in at the same time. But this also means that the final exams are only a week away, and I hardly feel prepared even with a prep sheet. Hopefully like last semester I will be able to pull through and get good grades! This Sunday will be the last shift I work and when I think about it I feel sad. I honestly cannot believe that my time in Purdue will be over soon. Friday will be the last classes I attend at Purdue and I cannot help but want time to stop. I cannot even pull myself to book my shuttle to the airport because I know once I do, I have to leave and my time here in the Purdue bubble will be over. When I think about my hesitation about Purdue last May I cannot help but laugh. This was the most life changing and valuable thing I could have ever done. The people I have met, the things I have experienced have all been worth it. I know I have made friends for life. Purdue will always be a special place to me.

Asian American studies

This semester I’ve been taking a module called “Introduction to Asian American Studies”. I choose this module because I thought it would be helpful to my dissertation and I was not wrong. Not only this, but I feel that it has also taught me more about my heritage and experiences other Asians have undergone. Although I am not personally an Asian American, the themes and issues that we have studied are all too familiar even within the UK. The stereotypes and generalizations that many have of Asians I have seen and been measured against. Even though I cannot expect people not to judge me for my skin colour, eye shape or even height I know they will. However, after learning about other people’s experience I think I can be more proud and confident in who I am. I have to say before coming to Purdue, I was not as interested in learning more about my Asian heritage nor have I felt so Asian in my life. But I feel that because of the people that I met here and courses like ASAM 240 I appreciate and value my Chinese heritage far more than I did in the UK.  For me “Asian America” does not have a specific definition. For me it highlights the umbrella of ethnicities, cultures, languages, experiences and stories that they have. Their stories of immigration, assimilation and more will have similarities to one another but each different and unique in their own right.

“I believe that everything happens for a reason. People change so that you can learn to let go, things go wrong so that you appreciate them when they're right, you believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself, and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.”
― Marilyn Monroe

“All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.”
-Walt Disney

What's in a name?

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet."

So at Purdue one module I have taken is Asian American studies. I thought it would be highly informative and interesting to take and I was not wrong. Each and every week we're set a weekly reflection and this week I based mine on the film The Grace Lee Project (2005).

I personally found the documentary The Grace Lee Project (2005) humorous yet insightful. Considering the amount of people that share that one very name is astounding and it is understandable that the director would feel that she was not as special or unique as she had previously felt. I found it quite ironic also that all the perceptions of “Grace Lee” were all similar to one another. The Grace’s they knew were all “petite, smart, softly spoken, reserved and quiet” and I agree with the director when she asks if in reality they mean passive? For if she really was all of the above, why have none of them kept in contact with her?
During the discussion, one person asked if anyone disliked their own names...personally I can I don't dislike my names individually but together it is an absolute pain to write. My surname has three components plus my first, second and Chinese name makes six! Trying to learn to write this as a child was absolute torture!! It took me years to learn how to write Tseung. But I think what is more annoying is people miss pronunciation my name. Even though they don't mean to, I can't help but get irritated but its a daily feature of my life...and I know for sure other people experience this.

The question of what is in a name and if it defines your personality to an extent has truth. I personally think names have an influence on a person’s character. Even though my first name is Jessica and my second is Melissa, I personally feel more like a Melissa and have a stronger association/ connection with this name. Likewise in terms of surnames Lee seems to be a highly common name among the Asian community, just like my own. Sometimes I feel a bit too common of a name. I remember once when I told someone my surname was Wong, they’re reaction was literally, ‘Oh another Wong?! What makes you different to any other Wong I know?!’ Even to this day I feel it’s a very good question to ask myself. Out of the all the people with my name, what makes me stand out from the crowd? Will I blend in like Grace Lee and be known as the “petite, smart, softly spoken, reserved and quiet girl that always got good grades?” I would like to think I’m different than all the others who share my name, but who really knows?
Lee. G, (2005) The Grace Lee project, A LeeLee Films Production