<p>What the title says; I feel that as I grow older and older, I am becoming more inclined to stick with Asian stereotypes and cultures. Although I'm in the beginning of high school and have plenty of opportunities to explore new ECs, I feel like I need to correct this behavior soon, or else it will be too late come college application time (and, of course, it's important to be a diverse and multicultural person with varying interests). So, here's what I'm dealing with right now:
-Intended major: Pre-med
-Tae Kwon Do
-Science-oriented (although my verbal ability is at about the same level; I'm okay in Math; I absolutely HATE social studies)
-Play the violin
-Currently learning Japanese and Chinese
-Joining HOSA next year
-Going to volunteer at a hospital next summer
-Planning on joining Quiz Bowl
-Planning on becoming a Math tutor</p>
<p>So yeah, I'm very Asian. But what worries me the most is that those are my genuine interests, and I'm not interested in the non-logical areas of study like language arts and history. Should I just change the focus of my ECs, or what? Thanks :)</p>
<p>Be interesting. Write interesting non-generic essays, ideally not about your Asian heritage. I feel like a lot of kids (not just Asians) are so intensely focused on taking the best classes and having leadership and looking good on paper that they completely fail to see the meaning behind those things (learning, improving society, etc.) and I feel like that has to come across in their essays and interviews and maybe even teacher recommendations. They look shallow and don’t appear to have much of a personality.</p>
<p>So you’re worried that you like school too much, that you’re learning practical languages, and that you’re pursing things that interest you? Here’s a hint, all of these things will benefit you regardless of what school you go to. Stop worrying about being a stereotype. If you like those things, continue to do them. If you don’t, stop.</p>
<p>Maybe have a sport that’s not Tae Kwon Do? If you had something that was more team based then you’d seem a lot less stereotypical. This is of course, assuming being Asian is undesirable.</p>
<p>There’s nothing wrong with being “Asian”. Or appearing “Asian” for that matter.</p>
<p>Just be different and be yourself at the same time. “Asian” is just an ethnicity and not much else. If you don’t want to stick to the stereotypes that were brought up by countless other Asians, just seek to be who you are. Don’t be a complete valedictorian because you want to go to Ivy League or something. Instead, just think of it as working hard for something you want to become in the future.</p>
<p>If you want to learn Japanese and Chinese, do Taekwondo, or play the violin, it’s all up to you. I find that if you truly follow your interests, ethnicity doesn’t matter at all.</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure it’s too late for team sports; I never played team sports as a kid mostly because I was always left out of the game (i.e. no one really passed to me, and I never got to play) I do like football, but my parents think it’s too dangerous.</p>
<p>From one Asian to another, there’s nothing wrong with being Asian! It’s something that you should be proud of, just as you should be proud of having a Polish, German, Ethiopian, Brazilian, or any other heritage. It isn’t something that you should feel like you need to mask to “impress” colleges.</p>
<p>Regarding affirmative action, I feel that there is an increasing sentiment that being Asian is “wrong” and that it’s something to hide. I know that affirmative action doesn’t usually help Asians. But that isn’t a reason to hide or change who you are. Stick to your passions, regardless of whether they follow the Asian stereotype. The fact that you are so in touch with Asian culture along with American culture makes you multicultural. Trying to be less Asian and turning your back on Asian culture does not make you multicultural.</p>
<p>Frankly I think that this conversation about how to appear less Asian is a bit silly. Don’t give up who you are just for the sake of college admissions. It ain’t worth it.</p>
<p>A lot of sports teams take new recruits including swim, track, crew, tennis, lacrosse, etc. You’re not going to be perfect at the onset, so don’t expect that you can’t join because you won’t be the best, initially. I know that mentality is hard to accept, for kids who have always done well in academics, to do poorly in sports. It takes practice. It would make your app look better.
We had an Asian parent berate his child very publicly and loudly because she missed a point in tennis. It was very sad and, culturally, the rest of the players were shocked since they had been trained: you miss a point, you go on and get the next one. They tried to verbally support their teammate, but the parent wouldn’t let them. The coaches had to kick him off of the court area.</p>
<p>As an Asian dude , I say don’t let that worry you. Be you and pursue what you want, but don’t be afraid to try out other things. If you want to show your multicultural, you could maybe try founding a multiculturalism club, or join a club oriented towards a different ethnicity. And something I did this year that gave me a good perspective on race is to hang out with people of different races. I don’t know about your school, but my local area is 90% middle class Asian. And I was one of those more stereotypical, introverted kids during middle school who stuck with other introverted Asian kids because we had no one else to hang around. When I entered high school last Freshmen year, I went to a charter that was over 20 minutes away from my house and was really shocked by the completely opposite demographics (65% white, 25% hispanic, 5% Asian) of the school. It gave me a perspective on race that most people in my local neighborhood don’t have, and I think that it’s beneficial to my socialization.</p>
<p>Of course I’m proud that I’m Asian, it’s just that I don’t really do that many non-stereotypical extracurriculars. I’d like to stand out just a little from the crowd, not just for college admissions, but also because I feel like I’m no different from the next Asian guy.</p>
<p>Be proud of yourself and your heritage. It’s rich in history and values and there’s nothing at all, wrong with it. Just be 100% genuine about what you do and make sure it’s ‘documentable’. I mean this in the sense: if you’re interested in Chinese, Japanese - get good at it, try to do an independent project for your school and get credit, enter competitions, write poems in it, do study abroads ETC. If it’s you, and if it’s real, then you’ll have had a good HS experience and will get in somewhere good. Anyway, ‘Elite schools’ aren’t the meaning of life - you can still be great as long as you go to a decent school that fits.</p>
<p>Although many prestigious colleges are disadvantageous to Asians because of the large amount of Asian appliers, there’s no reason to change yourself.</p>
<p>If the things you listed are your actual passions, then by no means change.
It is you, and if you change yourself for a college, that would just be, well, stupid.</p>
<p>Looking at your ECs, that is not even close to my Asian-ness, and I’m fine with my extremely stereotypical past-times.</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure whether you are an asian that plays varsity football or an asian that plays tae kwon do, colleges don’t care. Either way, you are asian, and will therefore be at a slight disadvantage because of affirmative action. There’s no point in forcing yourself to do activities you are not interested in just because it will make you look a little less (yet still) asian to colleges. That is pretty pointless. If you do what you enjoy, then you can’t have any regrets.</p>
<p>Well I know one person who’s biography is, “I’m not your average Asian. I drink, smoke, and prefer black guys.” I wouldn’t recommend going that route.</p>