My Right To Embrace My Cultural Identity

Halo-Halo Taking off my shoes before going inside my home is as if I am leaving the American and westernized aspects of my life outside and walking barefoot into a pure Filipino household. “Take off your shoes before you come inside!” means “It is alright to not be American here, embrace your Filipino culture because you could not embrace it out there.” The only place where I can be a proud Filipino is in my house because once I leave that house and put on those shoes, I walk on the American-paved roads feeling as if it’s not right to embrace my cultural identity. Some aspects that make up my cultural identity include Filipino food, education and family. When I was younger, I used to despise being Filipino, because wherever I went in America, besides Hawaii, I was bound to be overshadowed by people that saw me as different, I was destined for my efforts to go unnoticed, it was my fate to …show more content…
In my family, every mom and dad would push their kids to do their hardest in school so they would gain bragging rights about how their child has the brightest mind in the family, that they produced a genius. Always trying to be the best, living without flaw, was the mindset that was implanted in me at a young age. It was torture. My brother and I were prohibited from doing “normal” kid activities, like going out with friends, because our parents feared that it would conflict with our grades. I realized that my parents weren’t pushing us for bragging rights, but for the satisfaction of our success because my brother and I were given the opportunity to live in America and get a good education that our parents couldn’t get in the Philippines. Now I am thankful for that “torture” because it shaped my priorities and future, if I didn’t have the passion for education I grew up with, I would not be the person I am