Personal Narrative: How Pop Culture Changed My Life

Slowly, dreadfully, I tried to buy time by making a scene on the my first day of kindergarten. For 30 minutes, I grabbed onto my mom’s blouse until the teacher separated us; the action that created a barrier between society and me. Usually, my days preceded with sleeping in, and then spending the rest of it at my grandparents’ house, instead I was now glued to a chair, where everyone was watching me with judgemental eyes. As my American teacher introduced me to the class, I felt everyone’s eyes upon me; I knew minimal English because the main language spoken at home was vietnamese and my preschool consisted of chinese speaking teachers. I struggled with spelling words, so when my teacher singled me out for being unable to spell my name, J-A-C-Q-U-E-L-Y-N-N,

I was not able to fluently speak English and read 50 words per minute. I never could understand what American adults were speaking about when I eavesdropped because they discussed pop culture, the newest plays, or current events. I grew up with the chinese news station on the TV and Vietnamese music blasting in the background, so whenever I went grocery shopping, I couldn’t understand what the lady on the next aisle was talking about. My mom told me once when I was younger, “There is a social class between people with higher education and me, an immigrant. I will never be able to understand what these Americans are discussing because I was not brought up in this country. I know you will feel the same way as I do in the future because your upbringing is different than others.” My first exposure to the barrier between society and I; I don’t feel ashamed about what she told me because my high school experience proved to me that I can assimilate into American society, while also preserving my own culture. Even if my family didn’t teach me what pop culture was in America or discussed the newest play, I still got these experiences through my english and ethics classes, and internships that I have taken apart