January 12, 2017
Hey Ms. Lung-Amam,
I can for sure answer your follow-up questions.
For your first question, people don't really disparage your academic ability to your face. They'll just call you dumb behind your back, or call you a "B-sian" — an Asian who gets Bs. Or even worse, they'll call you "not really Asian" or "lowkey white." There's this whole culture of asking each other for their test scores or AP scores or SAT scores. Nobody laughs at your test scores to your face, but they'll turn around and whisper to their friend, "Sally got a 73 . . . yikes." I guess there's something nice about not being seen as competition, though.
At other schools, the smartest kids are exceptional — they score As in every AP class, do multiple extracurriculars, manage clubs, etc etc. But actually, what I just described is what every normal kid at Mission does. The smart ones (usually considered STEM kids) do even more (place regularly in national competitions, attend the most prestigious summer programs in the country . . . ). They're seen with a mix of admiration and envy, but they're also hounded by people demanding to know the outcome of the latest USAMO (USA Math Olympiad) or AP Physics test.
I'd say people do scope each other out as competition. When you're younger, it's the parents doing it — gossiping about other parents' kids on WeChat, stalking classmates' older siblings' Facebook profiles to see what colleges that family aspires to, reading student newspapers avidly to discover any possible extracurricular that got the school valedictorian into Stanford. But when you get to high school, it's the kids doing it themselves. Now they're the ones who sign up for as many AP and honors classes as possible, who kiss up to teachers for good rec letters, who join clubs that look good on paper regardless of the students' actual interests. People really do put immense pressure on each other and themselves. I assume you've heard of the suicide clusters at neighboring schools like Gunn?
Hope this helps,
Sally
(imagined from Trespassers?: Asian Americans and the Battle for Suburbia by Willow Lung-Amam)
Hey Ms. Lung-Amam,
I can for sure answer your follow-up questions.
For your first question, people don't really disparage your academic ability to your face. They'll just call you dumb behind your back, or call you a "B-sian" — an Asian who gets Bs. Or even worse, they'll call you "not really Asian" or "lowkey white." There's this whole culture of asking each other for their test scores or AP scores or SAT scores. Nobody laughs at your test scores to your face, but they'll turn around and whisper to their friend, "Sally got a 73 . . . yikes." I guess there's something nice about not being seen as competition, though.
At other schools, the smartest kids are exceptional — they score As in every AP class, do multiple extracurriculars, manage clubs, etc etc. But actually, what I just described is what every normal kid at Mission does. The smart ones (usually considered STEM kids) do even more (place regularly in national competitions, attend the most prestigious summer programs in the country . . . ). They're seen with a mix of admiration and envy, but they're also hounded by people demanding to know the outcome of the latest USAMO (USA Math Olympiad) or AP Physics test.
I'd say people do scope each other out as competition. When you're younger, it's the parents doing it — gossiping about other parents' kids on WeChat, stalking classmates' older siblings' Facebook profiles to see what colleges that family aspires to, reading student newspapers avidly to discover any possible extracurricular that got the school valedictorian into Stanford. But when you get to high school, it's the kids doing it themselves. Now they're the ones who sign up for as many AP and honors classes as possible, who kiss up to teachers for good rec letters, who join clubs that look good on paper regardless of the students' actual interests. People really do put immense pressure on each other and themselves. I assume you've heard of the suicide clusters at neighboring schools like Gunn?
Hope this helps,
Sally
(imagined from Trespassers?: Asian Americans and the Battle for Suburbia by Willow Lung-Amam)