My first year in college has been an interesting experience, from the freedom we have as students to the greater buildup of responsibilities. I’m currently on the pre – med track so I’m taking courses that are suggested for the MCAT. As of now I plan on double majoring in biology and international relations. I have always wanted to help others in the future, which is why I plan to major in biology. For international relations, I’ve become interested in foreign affairs after taking a comparative politics class in high school. It showed me how different yet similar different countries are. I want to be someone, who can understand the culture of multiple countries and be able to cooperate with them in order to better all our countries.
I’m now in CUNY Honors because it was the best choice to make in this economy. I would get a free education with benefits on the side so what’s not to like? This seminar topic is actually the one I have the most interest in. I hope to gain an understanding of people from different backgrounds and understand why people from different cultures are the way they are now. This topic is closely related to my interest in international relations since demographics play a huge role in both. No matter what country it is, as time goes on people will come and go and demographics will alter. I hope to gain a deeper understanding of the topics I’m interested in, and broaden my knowledge through college. I’ve worked as a counselor for children in the past but for the future I plan on getting jobs more closely related with my field of study.
As someone who lives in Brooklyn, I feel like there will always be neighborhoods that have more of a certain race then another. There are some neighborhoods that have a balanced mix of ethnic groups but few. These neighborhoods with dominant races show how more and more immigrants are migrating to Brooklyn. Even though I’m only eighteen, I have seen the changes that have been mad apparent in my neighborhood. Thirteen years ago my neighborhood Bay Ridge was mostly white, now a lot of Arabs and Asians have moved into my neighborhood. In the past I would say I was the only Asian family on my block and all the other families were White. Now I can say that about half my block is White and the other half is of mixed races.
The incredible amount of immigrants that come to New York City has broadened my understanding of different types of people. Even just by attending school I can see how more and more families have immigrated to New York and how certain neighborhoods play a role in the types of people you meet in a school. Starting from Elementary School, there were really few Asians because my neighborhood was mostly White. However when I left my own neighborhood, and went to Christa McAuliffe for Middle School I encountered a huge increase of Asians. Christa McAuliffe is in Fort Hamilton and is predominately Asian due to its proximity to 8th Avenue, which is practically the Chinatown of Brooklyn. Then when I entered Brooklyn Technical High School, the amount of diversity I encountered was off the charts. I met people from just about everywhere. There was also a huge increase in Black people because Brooklyn Tech is in the middle of Fulton which is a predominately Black neighborhood. When the amount of people in your school is still small, people don’t really see the diversity because in Elementary School and Middle School, the diversity was still really scarce. When I entered a High School, with more than five thousand people I got to see how diverse our city was. These people were coming from all over the city to create the diversity in my High School. Now at Brooklyn College the diversity is incredible with more than 16,000 people. You can meet people who have come from just about anywhere. I really love the diversity in my High School and here at Brooklyn because I feel like it’s given me a better understanding of other cultures. Through friends from different areas, I learn things about other countries without even having to open a textbook. They share their culture with me and I feel like it’ll help me in the future especially with being more accepting towards other cultures and what they believe in.
To be honest I feel like social background will always matter in life. Even though it may not matter as much in New York City compared to other places, it still matters. Race had never really been an issue for me until I applied to college. I was scared to mark off the Asian box because many colleges have a limit for how many of each ethnic group they’ll accept. Many people I knew when applying to college choose to mark off the minority boxes. They were part of that minority in technical terms but they never considered themselves part of that ethnic group until it was beneficial for them in college. I was scared that being Asian would affect whether or not I got into my desired school especially since the Asian pool is so competitive. For now I could say my race hasn’t greatly affected me but I’ll never know for the future. Since my family isn’t wealthy, I would say it affected my decision to go to Macaulay. I didn’t want to burden my parents with loans, which is why I chose a school where they wouldn’t have to worry about anything instead of a private school.
The promises that come along with New York City haven’t really affected my parents but it has given me hope for a better future. I strive to do better because I know my efforts will eventually pay off. I feel like New York City’s immigration pattern has probably constrained our movements more. It’s not necessarily a bad thing but it’s a lot more competitive in the industry today with the influx of people. My dad is fluent in English and keeps up with politics. I would say as an immigrant himself, he’ll always vote for the candidate who speaks for the lower class more because he wants to see immigrants get better employment, instead of the typical minimum wage jobs we see these days. Because my dad is more Americanized I would say my family isn’t as culturally oriented as other Chinese families. We still celebrate the regular big Chinese holidays but we aren’t as superstitious as other families regarding bad and good omens. I feel like New York City has hyped up the Chinese culture. During Chinese New Year there are parades in predominately Chinese areas. I went to 8th avenue with my friends and it was interesting to see so many non – Asians celebrating too. I felt happy watching others celebrate with us too. In New York City there aren’t any places important to us because of our culture. Rather places like the Bronx Zoo and Museum of Natural History are important to us because of the memories we’ve built there throughout the years. My family and I have gone there together every year since I was a child. They’re places that have built the strong bonds within our family.
The first picture is a picture of me when I was in Six Flags with my friends. The second is a picture of my favorite exhibit in the Natural History Museum.
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