Growing Up Multicultural
I came to the United States as an 11 year old who had already lived in different countries around the world. Yes, my passport and birth certificate say I'm a Filipino citizen but at such a young age, I was still forming my identity.
Adolescence is one of the most crucial times in a person's life. These years are filled with insecurities, figuring out a crudely drawn sketch of your future, and trying to shape the base of your identity. To clarify, college is continuing to shape my identity and I don't sit here pretending to understand everything and anything. It's such a huge stereotype that people my age think they have it all figured out when in reality, we're pretending. We stay up late at night freaking out about projects, grades, internships, but mostly about how we'll turn into full-fledged adults in a matter of years.
The adolescent identity I'm talking about is the time in life where the environment we grow up in transfers its values unto us. Where geography (even within a state) matters. I grew up in Western Washington for about half my life. The suburbs were pretty standard - houses next to each other, my best friend within a 5-minute walking distance, school bus stops, and kids riding bikes. The people in my suburbs were different though. My city was very multi-cultural. I went to school with children of immigrants, children whose families came in the early 1900s, and children like me who came from abroad. Exposed to so many different kinds of people, the values I came to know sometimes contrasted with the ones of my family back home.
The Western world and I value independence. I value being able to live on my own, enjoying the freedom that comes with it, and being able to share my life the way I want. I'm open, I'm affectionate, I speak with a different tone (that okay, sometimes can come off as very harsh).
On social media, my persona stays the same (maybe with a few tweaks). Pictures are my favorite things to post because they capture memories and moments in time - whether they're posed or candid you're taken back to a random moment in time at an age you won't ever be again. Now, with family overseas and all around the world, social media has been a wonderful way to keep them updated on life like when I graduated high school, was accepted to UW, and when I got my first internship! However, they don't necessarily appreciate all my posts because our values do clash. It's scandalous to post a picture of me kissing my boyfriend, my cotton shorts are much too short, my spaghetti straps in the summer are extremely revealing.
I've also been told by my peers here, "You're basically white..." but also "Wow, you look so different! Your curly hair is so exotic!" Filipinos tell me "You're so Americanized" and even though I speak Tagalog fluently, I sound like a foreigner to my own family.
Honestly, it's hard.
I love being Filipino because I find a sense of pride in the resilience of my people. I see the hard work Filipinos put in to provide for their families and have successful futures. Our history is rich in fighting for what we believe in and surviving harsh landscapes throughout time. However, to identify myself as simply Filipino isn't accurate. While I don't hold American citizenship, while I don't live on soil I was born on, I cannot hide my American-ness. The United States has shaped me so much during those critical coming-of-age years that most people mistake me as American-born-and-raised.
What I've learned is that, while you should be respectful of your family and the traditional values from your ancestral land, you shouldn't hide your values away because your values define who you are. Sure, your mindset changes over time as you evolve into a different version of yourself, but to hide and alter your beliefs simply to please others? It means not being 100% you. I would much rather be my true self in person and online than hide away and only be what others want. You won't please everyone - yourself included.
While I strive to continuously better myself and evolve, I will NOT change who I am for the purpose of pleasing others. I will not hide my Filipino culture in the same way I will not hide my American culture. I'm a multicultural kid and what you see is what you get.
Adolescence is one of the most crucial times in a person's life. These years are filled with insecurities, figuring out a crudely drawn sketch of your future, and trying to shape the base of your identity. To clarify, college is continuing to shape my identity and I don't sit here pretending to understand everything and anything. It's such a huge stereotype that people my age think they have it all figured out when in reality, we're pretending. We stay up late at night freaking out about projects, grades, internships, but mostly about how we'll turn into full-fledged adults in a matter of years.
The Western world and I value independence. I value being able to live on my own, enjoying the freedom that comes with it, and being able to share my life the way I want. I'm open, I'm affectionate, I speak with a different tone (that okay, sometimes can come off as very harsh).
On social media, my persona stays the same (maybe with a few tweaks). Pictures are my favorite things to post because they capture memories and moments in time - whether they're posed or candid you're taken back to a random moment in time at an age you won't ever be again. Now, with family overseas and all around the world, social media has been a wonderful way to keep them updated on life like when I graduated high school, was accepted to UW, and when I got my first internship! However, they don't necessarily appreciate all my posts because our values do clash. It's scandalous to post a picture of me kissing my boyfriend, my cotton shorts are much too short, my spaghetti straps in the summer are extremely revealing.
I've also been told by my peers here, "You're basically white..." but also "Wow, you look so different! Your curly hair is so exotic!" Filipinos tell me "You're so Americanized" and even though I speak Tagalog fluently, I sound like a foreigner to my own family.
Honestly, it's hard.
I love being Filipino because I find a sense of pride in the resilience of my people. I see the hard work Filipinos put in to provide for their families and have successful futures. Our history is rich in fighting for what we believe in and surviving harsh landscapes throughout time. However, to identify myself as simply Filipino isn't accurate. While I don't hold American citizenship, while I don't live on soil I was born on, I cannot hide my American-ness. The United States has shaped me so much during those critical coming-of-age years that most people mistake me as American-born-and-raised.
What I've learned is that, while you should be respectful of your family and the traditional values from your ancestral land, you shouldn't hide your values away because your values define who you are. Sure, your mindset changes over time as you evolve into a different version of yourself, but to hide and alter your beliefs simply to please others? It means not being 100% you. I would much rather be my true self in person and online than hide away and only be what others want. You won't please everyone - yourself included.
While I strive to continuously better myself and evolve, I will NOT change who I am for the purpose of pleasing others. I will not hide my Filipino culture in the same way I will not hide my American culture. I'm a multicultural kid and what you see is what you get.
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