I Am Who I Say I Am
I Am Who I Say I Am
Yellow
During the summer of 2019, I went to a 3-weeks summer camp at Stanford University. It is there that I realized how fortunate I was to be living in America and getting an elite American education.
Nowhere To Call Home
I was adopted from South Korea and brought to to the US when I was a baby. I’ve grown up in a white American family in a predominantly white community. There aren’t any other Koreans, and hardly any Asians at all for that matter; so I’ve grown up extremely whitewashed, cut off from anything Korean, deprived of diversity.
Getting Cultured
I’ve never understood what people really meant when they said that they “didn’t see color.” My brown skin and long, wavy hair are part of what makes me, me. My reflection in the mirror is a reminder of where my family came from and of the ancestors who came before me.
Pushed Away and Reconnected
I was born in Sri Lanka but I was raised in Singapore. I only went back to Sri Lanka during school vacations, but they were my favourite part of each year as I would suddenly have over 25 other kids to play with, who spoke the same languages I do and looked the same way too. I learnt over time that they were my cousins.
A Mahjong Piece in Chess
“I’m not Chinese.”
This simple phrase has been the frontline of my arsenal against trivial comments regarding my nationality.
Priscila Bernabe Salazar
Her name is Priscila Bernabe Salazar. She was born in Bataan, Philippines, on May 19, 1933.