How They Cooked
Hey APC! My name is Sela Dingpontsawa (@sela.dingpontsawa). I am sixteen years old and I’m from Palo Alto, California. I identify as Asian American, and more specifically Tibetan American. Tibet was a country that is now an autonomous region in China. This year I have thought a lot more about my identity and what it means to be Asian American and an ethnic minority without a country. This piece is something that I wrote for an English project. We read We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo, and were instructed to write a piece in a similar style to one of Bulawayo’s chapters. I decided to write “How They Cooked”…
Happy Hapa
My name is Angela but I am called Angie. I am 19-years-old, and I live in Los Angeles California. I identify as a hapa. In Hawaiian that means white foreigners. It usually refers to anyone who is half white and of island decent. I am Japanese and white. I’m not more of one. I was culturally raised Japanese during the weekdays but on the weekends I was a very American girl. My dad took my siblings and me to a lot of free concerts in the park during the summer and weekends to see, not the rolling stones but their tribute “the Hollywood stones”, and it was not Led Zeppelin…
You May Also Like
Mi Calle – Joven, donde vives?
My Own Beat
An Exploration of Race in White Suburbs
Kindergarten Play
Aloha APC! My name is LeNora Suguturaga, I am 18-years-old, and I am currently taking a gap year in Hawai’i before I head to Brown University next fall. Some quick facts about me: – I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints. – I am Tongan, Fijian, and a little bit of Samoan, Jewish, and Swiss-German. – I have 8 siblings and 4 dogs. – And I have a YouTube channel that I just started! Subscribe to me @norasugu 🙂 The piece I am submitting is actually my Common App essay that got me into 12/13 schools I applied to. The common app essay is one…
Islam and Asian are not Mutually Exclusive
Hey, APC! I’m Angel Samsuhadi, a 15-year-old aspiring journalist born and raised in Northern Virginia. I’m fully Indonesian. My mom is from East Java and my dad is from Jakarta. This piece was inspired by my struggles with being Muslim, Asian, and a Muslim-Asian. It isn’t a very relatable experience, considering that Muslim Asians are such a small portion of America, but I still find it necessary to let our experiences be heard. Islam and Asian are not mutually exclusive “What the hell are you wearing?” He was referring to the hijab that I was wearing for Sunday school. I’m not sure, and I’ll never be sure if this was…
Starry Night
Hi APC! My name is Sydney Singh. In the midst of global climate change, I want a future. I want there to be a future for my children, especially. Just like my parents, they want the best for me. I am half Guyanese and half Indian. I am a firstborn American, and I am interested in non-definitive art. (I made this term up, but it means art with many purposes.) I grew a passion for fashion just recently. I get a rush when picking out clothes for school and showing them off and maybe receiving a compliment or two. I love it when we, society, come together to show our…
Finding Joy in Joyless Circumstances
Hello, APC readers! My name is Amanda and I’m from the state of Virginia. I am 19-years-old, a 2019 high school graduate, and I am adopted from China. Next fall I plan to go to community college to pursue my dreams of becoming an occupational therapist, but for now, I am currently working as a live-in nanny. For my entry piece, I have decided to write about a point that my pastor told in one of his sermons; “There is joy in the word, worship, and the will of God”. My summer was a mix of emotions: sorrow from the ending of a long relationship, fun times with friends, camp…
Undeniably Beautiful
Hi APC! My name is Alia Jaffrey and I am a senior at Kent Place School. I have been looking in mirrors my whole life. And not just mirrors, but pretty much any reflective surface. It became an unconscious habit of mine, so it never occurred to me how much I cared about how I looked until I got to Middle School. Middle School is when I became aware of my new body type. Ironically, just as the girls around me started talking more about dieting and being “hot,” my body decided that this would be the perfect time for my stomach to start poking out. At 13, I didn’t…
Fourth of July
Hey APC! I’m Gabriela Alvarado, a freshman at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I’m seventeen years old and identify as female, Chicana, and Latina. My maternal side is from El Salvador; my paternal is from Mexico. My life experience and two quotes make up “The Wards.” The first quote is from the 1965 James Baldwin and William Buckley debate: “I am not a ward of America. . . . I am one of the people who built the country.” The second quote is from the beginning of The Twelve Tribes of Hattie by Ayana Mathis, which I just started reading: “Others carried a simple something in their hands:…
Musical Solace
Hey APC! My name is Ashley De Guzman, but I tend to be known for my music alias, “Ashley Dee”. I’m a 16-year-old musician/songwriter born and raised in London, however, I’m Filipino by blood. For as long as I can remember, music and being able to express myself creatively was like breathing. It was easy, natural, but essential. Without it, my ability to survive would cease. Music helped my identity survive. Growing up, I have always felt like I didn’t belong anywhere. I believed that identity comes with belonging and I couldn’t find a place where I actually felt like I belonged. I felt as if my blunt corners could…
Speak!
Hi, I am Farzana Pritte and 15 years old. I am a Muslim-American. I attend Boerum Hill School For International Studies in NYC. Not too long ago, I was introduced to the issue of climate change and the disheartening effects it has on the world. Near my house, the department of transportation (DOT) wanted to shut down the beautiful promenade that overlooks the water and city. All for a 6 lane highway that will hold 150k cars. This wasn’t just about the highway, but the effects it would have on the community around it. Transportation in the city releases an immense amount of CO2 that contributes to climate change. This…
Words for my Mother
After thinking about it for a while I’ve finally decided to write something that’s been on my mind for a long while now. I think it’s gonna be about where I kinda stand now in life and the death of my mother. So hi. My name is Cynthia and I’m a student from Amsterdam. Both my parents are from Hong Kong and they moved to the Netherlands when they were younger. I live with my dad and older sister not far away from the city. It is now a bit more than a year ago since the doctors found out that my mum was in her final stage of lung…
Loving
Hey, APC! My name is Nurul Izzah and I’m a 17-year-old from ~Malaysia~. I currently live in Cambodia and am about to go into my senior year of high school (yay!). I really love music and singing and whatnot so I decided to write a song about loving your skin in a way that’s healthy and realistic. What I don’t really like is the glorification of self-love and vanity nowadays in the media. A lot of the times, self-acceptance is a slow and awkward process but it’s ok, we are all going through it. Sometimes you just have to write a silly song and edit a silly video to feel…
