“Get the hell out of my car,” urged my mom with a smile. Wearing an unnecessarily large backpack and reveling in the significance of the moment, I caught my reflection in the window: a young, slender man with “black” skin from my father, “almond shaped” eyes from my mother, and a big smile all my own. My walk turned into a stride with swagger, pleased with what I see. Before my day at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Tecnhnology(TJ), I looked back at mom one last time for reassurance.
It was my first day of class; I pushed open the government-issued doors and was transported to the bustling streets of China. Amidst the commotion I heard the words I will never forget:
“It’s a black guy at TJ.”
I was no longer a mixed-race boy, I was a black guy and much of I was raised to believe was flipped upside down. My parents have taught that if didn’t matter what race I was. I never really considered using race to define people by. The months of preparation, the joy of being accepted into one of America’s top STEM high schools, the burning pride felt when I told my friends that I would be attending TJ, was all negated with six whispered words. …show more content…
I remember looking through old photo albums with my family the Sunday before the fall semester of my freshman year. My parents and I were flipping through the photos, laughing at pictures of me bumping into walls, when I realized I didn’t see my Korean grandfather in any of the pictures. I learned that much of my extended family didn’t approve of my parent’s marriage, and I wasn’t recognized as a legitimate child for about four years. I get it, I never really fit in with either side of my family. I grew up eating Korean barbecue and drinking cherry Kool-aid, to be fair I was a pretty weird
It was my first day of class; I pushed open the government-issued doors and was transported to the bustling streets of China. Amidst the commotion I heard the words I will never forget:
“It’s a black guy at TJ.”
I was no longer a mixed-race boy, I was a black guy and much of I was raised to believe was flipped upside down. My parents have taught that if didn’t matter what race I was. I never really considered using race to define people by. The months of preparation, the joy of being accepted into one of America’s top STEM high schools, the burning pride felt when I told my friends that I would be attending TJ, was all negated with six whispered words. …show more content…
I remember looking through old photo albums with my family the Sunday before the fall semester of my freshman year. My parents and I were flipping through the photos, laughing at pictures of me bumping into walls, when I realized I didn’t see my Korean grandfather in any of the pictures. I learned that much of my extended family didn’t approve of my parent’s marriage, and I wasn’t recognized as a legitimate child for about four years. I get it, I never really fit in with either side of my family. I grew up eating Korean barbecue and drinking cherry Kool-aid, to be fair I was a pretty weird