<p>Ugh as if being held to higher testing standards weren’t bad enough, after reading through the posts in here, it’s like I have to work extra-hard to defend my extra-curriculars; yes I’m Asian, yes I love science, yes I do debate - but not because my parents make me, or to pad my application. My parents couldn’t care less, and I love debate almost as much as I love science. You’d be surprised by how similar they are. It’s the same analytical thinking, the same ability to look at things from unique perspectives, the same necessity of understanding and applying other people’s publications. I may not ever want to major in the humanities, but that doesn’t mean that I only do debate because it looks good on a college app. But just because I’m Asian, every adcom who looks at my app is going to assume that I’m just trying to impress them by doing debate. </p>
<p>The person in the article who said “that’s terrible, but this stuff is minor. Pick your battles, I guess” is dead on; it’s not like I’m going to go activist on this subject or anything. But that doesn’t keep me from being angry about it (and whining on the internet, everyone’s favorite pastime!) And you know what, having to work harder at better grades or having to score a couple hundred points higher on the SAT because I’m Asian is fine; it’s the attack on personality that I’m really ticked off about.</p>
<p>Oh, and just because I’m a math/science person doesn’t mean I’m quiet and shy. Nor does it mean I’m hard-working (although I wish I were).</p>