Grace Chen, 17
Taiwanese-American
Virginia
At my high school, AP Lang students are required to write a year-long research paper on any topic they choose. Now, before you click away, I'd like to point out that because my topic—debunking the model minority myth—is deeply personal, I was allowed to insert anecdotes of my own into the paper. Certain parts of the paper are still a bit hard for me to read because I shared a lot about my own experience, but I hope that someone out there can relate to some of it, or learn to empathize with an experience they might never have.
As this website beautifully highlights, Asian-Americans have been left out of the race discussion in the United States and abroad for far too long. I, even as a young Asian-American woman, learned more than I ever thought I'd know about the roots of Asian-Americans in America in part due to this paper.
It's about damn time that we all take the time and put in the effort to do the same.