Wasting Potential Is Just Another Word for Happiness
I remember hearing my parents talking about my sister’s film career. My sister who excels in academics has an extreme passion for film and photography and moved to Orlando to pursue it.
My parents believed she was "wasting potential."
My mother would often bring up her friends' successful children. She would urge me and my older sister to take a successful career. Constantly, she reminded us that taking up nursing would make our lives in the future easier.
At that point I didn't know what I wanted to become. My whole life I was surrounded by reasons to become a nurse, to not pick a career that will render me homeless.
Now, I debate whether or not what I am doing is the "right" choice.
To this day I still question whether I am walking the path of success or struggle, the two paths my parents seem to believe in.
What my parents saw was her constantly working part-time, with her film projects on the side.
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Although true, they refuse to see the whole picture.
I see her having fun, independent, travelling, and spending time with friends who care for her.
But I understand where they’re coming from. I know their fear wasn’t the film camera, but the stability. They just want safety.
And in their generation, that path only leads one way.
This experience of asian parents comparing you to other children is so common in fact that it is a "canon event" amongst the community.
There are countless videos online where asian creators share their humorous take on this universally shared experience.
I found it fascinating.
Seeing how many people shared the same experience as I did, It made me feel that I wasn’t alone.
Remember, you are not "them"
Even I have to remind myself that I am my own person.
