Personal Narrative: My Life As A Vietnamese American Patient

Ch. 1 The main subject of this chapter is to introduce the racial discrimination Asian-Americans suffered simply because of their skin color. The author argues in this chapter that Americans are frequently subject to assume that Asians are foreigners, having no knowledge of their past or family. A specific piece of evidence that the author uses to support his case is the example of when he went to college and was invited to dinners for foreign students, despite the fact that his family had lived in America for three generations.

The actions presented stereotypical comments about Asian students such as “aren’t you supposed to be good at math,”

Everyday I walk into my English class is the moment I experience an identity crisis. As I approach the entrance to the class, I already detected the dichotomy in the room. On the right side lies the Caucasian students, and on the left, resides the International Chinese students. As the only Asian American in the class, I struggle to select the correct side. Being an Asian American can be conflicting sometimes; especially when you 're born in a predominately Caucasian town, but raised in a stereotypical Asian family.

  I've learned that even though the language is sometimes different, the feelings and emotions are the same.   Seeing how brave and stoic some patients can be in a time of pain and uncertainty is truly humbling.   I am grateful for the exposure I've had to the vastly different people I help care for at work.   I believe it has made me a better person, and I now know what it means to learn something from every interaction.   I hope to bring this diverse learning experience to the UA COM and collaborate with fellow classmates to help keep peoples minds open and to approach every patient with the mindset of not only healing but learning something from

Since the people around me were mainly Asian, I never realized that numerous people from other ethnicities categorized all Asians as smart and academically successful individuals—through the model minority myth. I simply viewed Asians as regular people—some being more academically superior while some others were more academically inferior. The most important issue I learned about the model minority myth was that it caused conflict to numerous individuals of Asian descent who did not fit the stereotype. As many people, including individuals of Asian descent, continue to spread the model minority myth, people who do not resemble the

From a young age white students hear that their Asian American classmates are smarter and are pushed much harder from their parents to succeed, and in turn they know that these students will always be better. This driving force from adults happens because of the discrimination in the past towards Asians. They feel as though they need to prove that they too can be great. This pressure can have negative effects on an Asian American student’s schooling experience. Not only do these students have to keep up with their parent’s standards, they also have the added pressure of the thoughts and assumptions put in place by their peers.

America is a white dominant society. Asian are recognized as abnormal. Asian American students often suffer from racial discrimination. (Young & Takeuchi, 1998). From the “Persimmons”, “Mrs. Walker slapped the back of my head and made me stand in the corner.”

I was raised in a traditional Vietnamese household where the sharp, lingering taste of bitter melon was a treat, family was everything, and everyone spoke Vietnamese. However, I lived in a community where speaking English was the majority and I was very clearly, a minority. There were hardly any other people who spoke Vietnamese where I lived. Because of this, I slowly lost my grasp with the Vietnamese language and my ability to communicate with my family This was terrifying for me; as a result, I have made efforts to learn and speak Vietnamese even though it sounds horrendous because I still have a voice and want to be heard.

Similarly Bich Minh Nguyen the author of the article “The Good Immigrant Student” shares her experience of how she wasn’t given importance based on the fact that she was a foreigner despite her being smart. Education maintains social hierarchies among minorities

Latinos and blacks ‘need to work harder to move up. ’”14 The study asked 898 freshman from 27 different prestigious universities on how they perceived Asian, Latino and Black Americans based on their intelligence and work ethic.

According to another author from Business NH Magazine, Brenda Lett, she states “We are held back, and hold ourselves back, by deciding not to work collectively to address the lie of superiority and inferiority based on skin color.” (Mowry 61). Students race matters. If people did not notice about their race, is like pretending not to see the consequences for this students. They knew that they are “the other” before they were called “the other”.

Every single race, including Native Americans, faces struggles that may come across blind to other races. Education, employment opportunities and measure of wealth are just a few factors that go hand and hand with race and racial connotations. It is true that college acceptance rate and race/ethnicity have some connection, but what does this special treatment mean? It gives the impression that minorities need the extra push, and it gives white students a reason to see race as an object or something that legitimately imposes on life chances. Andrea Smith, associate professor of media and cultural

While clearly sympathizing with Lia lee and her physicians, Fadiman provides a descriptive account of the complex situation and at the same time challenges one’s perspectives on spirituality and

My parents are Vietnamese refugees that fled Vietnam after the war. My sister and I were born and raised in the Philippines for 11 years. I can speak Tagalog, Vietnamese and English. I graduated this year from University of Washington, receiving a Public Health degree. I like helping people especially immigrants because I am one myself and I understand the obstacles that they are going through. My passion for helping people led me to work in multiple community services like WILD where I renovated abandoned parks, making it more accessible to the community. I also participated in cleaning the Duwamish River and making sure warning signs are visible for those that tries to fish in the river.

I knew that I wanted to be a doctor since early high school. Experience in a hospital and clinic setting, both personal and professional, have given me many reasons to pursue medicine. Through these viewpoints, I have gained an understanding of patient hardships like financial and travel issues, the grief associated with loss, and the trust that accompanies putting yourself or a loved one into the hands of physicians. These experiences have built empathy and compassion in me that is necessary in medicine.