Stronger together

This quote seems to be widely attributed to a pastor, and it stuck with me all day.

I grew up in a predominantly white city in Tennessee. When I was younger, I wished I were white so I could fit in. I was tired of being asked if I was Hispanic, Hawaiian, or Oriental (cringe). I went along with—and welcomed—Asian jokes to feel accepted, but I was ashamed of doing so.

It wasn’t until college, where I was exposed to more diverse backgrounds, that I became comfortable with my Filipina heritage. But, given my desire to go into journalism, I (usually) refused to publicly state my opinion about current events and stayed neutral.

I did the same this week, as #BlackoutTuesday took over the internet. Instead of posting a black square on Instagram, I drafted this blog post.

Describe Yourself in 3 Fictional Characters

For the past two days, I’ve quietly enjoyed my friends analyze themselves with the “describe yourself in three fictional characters” game that has spread across the internet. Instead of cleaning house for my in-laws’ arrival this weekend, I pressed myself to answer the question.

3 Things I Learned As A Sudden Teacher

I’m a hypocrite.

I teach the importance of maintaining a consistent online presence, but I haven’t updated my blog since New Year’s Eve. To fix this, I’m spending Labor Day (a holiday celebrating the American workforce), writing about … work.

I call myself a “sudden teacher,” or someone whose academic experience extends to being a teaching assistant in graduate school. I supervised writing workshops and graded papers. The professors I worked for handled exams and answered panicked end-of-semester emails from students.