I like to play off the fact that I don't look like my ethnic background (does that sentence sound funny? it sounds funny to me). I guess you can call me ambigiously Asian (okay, now THAT sounds funny, and pretty bad). I am Filipino and as far as I know in our lineage I am 100% Filipino. I'm sure somewhere up the line there was mixed blood, but as far as my knowledge I am pure. Those on my mom's side of the family just don't look Filipino at all. We have smaller eyes and we have lighter skin, well... with the exception of my siblings who got it from my dad's side haha
Since I was young, i've always gotten the question "Are you Chinese?" or "Are you Japanese?". I used to get mad when I was younger but it's a running joke now with my family and friends. I think it's pretty funny when people ask me and I sometimes make a game out of it, which then it turn makes the other party uncomfortable in fear of getting it wrong. I bring this up because I get it all the time when I'm working. I listen to JPOP and KPOP when I'm at work so people ask me if I'm Japanese and if I can understand the music (btw, I can understand just a bit since I've taken 2years of Japanese lanuguage classes). I tell them I'm not and then next assume I'm Chinese because they think my boss is my mom. When I tell them I'm Filipino, they get shocked which I'm not really surprised about since it happens so often. The best reactions come from the ones who automatically speak to me in their native language and I'm just like ".... what?" Actually the best reactions come from Filipinos who assume I'm something other than Filipino. And then they always end up asking me the same questions.
1) You're Filipino?
2) Where is your family from?
3) You were born here huh?
4) Can you understand Tagalog?
Always. And it's usually all of them by one person or 2 out of 4. Then they proceed to speak Tagalog to me but of course I reply back in English. I think they do so just to test me, I dunno, but it seems that way.
It's interesting to me that It always ends up being this way. Not that I'm saying it's bad or anything, it's just amusing that it always happens.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Friday, February 3, 2012
Revelation. Kind of......
It's that time of the semester where those who are filing for graduation need to start applying. Ive been trying to get my advisers signature for the last couple days, but always come at the wrong times. Even today, I came earlier than usual and he wasn't in his office. Luckily I headed back right after and caught him as he was heading there.
Sitting with him as he looked over my papers, he kept asking me a few questions about.. I guess LIFE. He asked what I want to do once I graduate, how are classes going, was it difficult to get into my classes, how'd I like going to this school.. but one in particular made me laugh, which also made him laugh a bit which was
"You were an INTERIOR DESIGN MAJOR?"
Yes...I WAS. For the first 3 years of being at that school I was an Interior Design major. But not once in that 3 year span did I ever take an art class. Not one. Not even as an elective for GE. How did I get from an Interior design major to a Microbiology major? I told him my story:
*I applied to the school as a CELL AND MOLECULAR student, but I entered the school as an Interior Design major as I had changed it prior to entering the school. I chose an art major because Art was something that I've been thinking of doing for a long time (back in high school I was ready to apply to an art school, only to realize in my senior year that I wanted to go to a "4yr school"). I ended up changing it to Microbiology because I knew it was science that I loved and wanted to do.
He told me he was amazed, mentioning that not most college students actually take the time to explore and think about what they're doing or take the time to actually find that thing that they're meant to do.
Him telling me this made me realize that science really is who I am. I know I always joke around about science stuff, or explain scientific things to people when they ask, but it's been awhile since I had to think about why I decided to change my major from an art to science major. And for him to, I guess, praise my decision made me realize that I did choose the right path.
All the hardships I've gone through...
Watching myself re-taking courses I SHOULD have passed the first time...
So many years of being at this school...
Watching my friends graduate before my eyes...
I've felt myself wanting to give up, maybe even switching my major, but in the end, I'm happy and proud of the accomplishments I've made so far. I know in the end it's all going to be worth it.
Sitting with him as he looked over my papers, he kept asking me a few questions about.. I guess LIFE. He asked what I want to do once I graduate, how are classes going, was it difficult to get into my classes, how'd I like going to this school.. but one in particular made me laugh, which also made him laugh a bit which was
"You were an INTERIOR DESIGN MAJOR?"
Yes...I WAS. For the first 3 years of being at that school I was an Interior Design major. But not once in that 3 year span did I ever take an art class. Not one. Not even as an elective for GE. How did I get from an Interior design major to a Microbiology major? I told him my story:
*I applied to the school as a CELL AND MOLECULAR student, but I entered the school as an Interior Design major as I had changed it prior to entering the school. I chose an art major because Art was something that I've been thinking of doing for a long time (back in high school I was ready to apply to an art school, only to realize in my senior year that I wanted to go to a "4yr school"). I ended up changing it to Microbiology because I knew it was science that I loved and wanted to do.
He told me he was amazed, mentioning that not most college students actually take the time to explore and think about what they're doing or take the time to actually find that thing that they're meant to do.
Him telling me this made me realize that science really is who I am. I know I always joke around about science stuff, or explain scientific things to people when they ask, but it's been awhile since I had to think about why I decided to change my major from an art to science major. And for him to, I guess, praise my decision made me realize that I did choose the right path.
All the hardships I've gone through...
Watching myself re-taking courses I SHOULD have passed the first time...
So many years of being at this school...
Watching my friends graduate before my eyes...
I've felt myself wanting to give up, maybe even switching my major, but in the end, I'm happy and proud of the accomplishments I've made so far. I know in the end it's all going to be worth it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)