This is post is part of our Asian Heritage Month series on Instagram. We chatted with Rachel about her Asian Heritage and what it means to her.
What does your Asian heritage mean to you?
"Asian heritage to me means understanding my culture and where I came from. It helps me define my own identity as a Canadian born Chinese and allows me to communicate and share culture and ideas with those around me. It's the connection between myself and those that came before me, and it's something that I'm very proud of and influences my choices and thoughts in everyday life. "
What is a challenge you face carrying/navigating this identity?
“The stereotypes involved in being Asian. As a child I was never the brightest star when it came to math, and that seemed to puzzle a lot of my peers. Subsequently, I even pushed myself to take advanced math purely because that's what I thought I 'should' be doing as an "Asian" (Let's just say my results were not so spectacular). Fast forward 10 years, and I'm pursuing my dream in speech-language pathology…a field with minimal math and a profession that most Asians have never heard of.”
What is one thing about being Asian Canadian you wouldn’t trade for the world?
“Being able to speak more than one language really has allowed to stay in touch with my culture and connect with my family. I think culture is something that's so beautiful and so easily lost in societies where there is a mixture of cultures. It's also made me more empathetic and considerate of other cultures around me. But having this deeply rooted culture that is so easy to connect with through language, that's what I wouldn't trade for the world.”
What’s one positive thing keeping you during quarantine?/ What is a highlight of being in quarantine?
“One highlight of being in quarantine is being able to spend more time reconnecting with my grandma, and even having the pleasure of acquiring her legendary 'homemade dumpling' recipe. She's spent 2 separate days teaching me how to make, wrap, and cook the dumplings and it was very nice to spend those technology-free afternoons learning and having that knowledge passed down.”
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