Now and Then

By: Aimeree Rivera

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As you may know, and a lot of people don't, May is the month of Asian American and Pacific Islander heritage. I know it's a tough time for many of us right now, considering what's going on at the moment. This is a good time for us to remember why we're proud of being who we are and why being Asian American or Pacific Islander is apart of us.

I surfed over social media and came across numerous posts about people hating themselves, being apart of this heritage, and that is definitely not what we're about. It feels as if I went back in time where I too once hated myself for being Asian American and wanted to change everything about myself in order to fit in with the rest. I wanted to become lighter, change my eye shape, change the way I spoke and didn't want to put courage into learning my own language. I wanted to be someone else and not me. Although, it did take some time for me to accept and learn to love myself.

Hopefully you were able to catch our last podcast where we spoke on the topic "What was it like growing up Asian American?" and we each put in some facts about how we grew up in our shoes where there's something we can all relate to. Nowadays, this generation has different stories to tell. Different reasons about why. Why they don't like the skin they're in. Why they don't like being Asian American or Pacific Islander. The kind of society we live in today is really making an impact on the younger generation and soon to the newer ones to come.

It hurts to see these actions happening, and it's really not blind to the human eye. I chose the word "human" because it's the one thing that we all have in common. No matter the difference we have between one another, being human is one thing we all are going to have in common. No matter the color of our skin, no matter the heritage we are apart of, we are all still human. It doesn't give us the right to disrespect any of those, let alone one another. The mindset of the society we live

in feels like a whole 'nother level where at this point, people really only care about their own well being and will care less about others because they are not like them. It makes us afraid. It makes us anxious to go out in the country we call home because of one mindset. I think it's cruel how no matter how many stories we see containing these kind of events, nothing gets resolved. Stories are made, but lessons aren't learned. But for us, we can make a difference.

Making a difference doesn't mean showing off to the world that you did something good. Become an influencer and reflect back on what you have taught. Hopefully they can pass those lessons on so that another person can learn, like a ripple effect. Sure we'll run into some dilemmas, situations that may hurt us or others, but it takes time to let others realize what is going on. Those things can't stop us from spreading love around to others.

But most importantly, everything starts with you. It is a process that we all have to go through. Change starts with you. Not going to say that it's going to be easy, but it's the effort that counts to get it going, and keep going so that it reaches those who need to hear it too. Make the world a better place.