Some of my earliest memories are of the way my mother sang me to sleep—soft vowels, careful consonants, and an accent I never thought twice about. Yet, I’ve sat in rooms where that accent—the one that raised me—was mocked. In my high school, classmates exaggerated syllables they didn’t understand. On[Read More…]
Tag: identity
A love letter to crappy Chinese food
I love crappy Chinese food. Don’t get me wrong, I love all types of Chinese food and would happily eat only rice for the rest of my days. But I love greasy, crappy mall Chinese food served in a plastic container with three divided sections: One for Canto-style chow mein[Read More…]
My thoughts on femininity as a so-called 900-pound grizzly bear
For years, boys at school called me “Boog.” When I asked what they meant, they said that it was a character from the movie Open Season: “A nine hundred-pound bear,” they would say. So, naturally, I thought I was fat. I developed an intense anxiety about eating in front of[Read More…]
My cultural identity is not dependent on a language
A few weeks ago, my friend Toscane and I were stopped by a man who asked us if we were French. With our affirmative response, he excitedly expressed his love for our accent before noticing the Hamsa pendant on my necklace. Also called the Hand of Fatima, the Hamsa symbol[Read More…]
‘Roaming’ dives into self-discovery on an enchanting trip to New York
NEW YORK CITY, 2009—Two Asian Canadian best friends, Dani and Zoe, have been planning this trip for ages. They seize the opportunity during their first winter break in university. Dani studies Fine Arts at Concordia; Zoe studies Life Sciences at Queen’s (she wants to study Neuroscience, but that’s just a[Read More…]
Diary of a Dad Friend
Sometimes I wonder if I was destined to become the “Dad Friend.” The label attached itself to me well before my friends bought me “#1 Dad” socks for Christmas. It became almost certain when my roommate began saying “Thanks, Dad” as they slid over their leftover dinner for me to[Read More…]
Having it all: How to be a singer, journalist, and barista
For a large part of my adolescence, I was sure that I wanted to be a professional singer. For nearly a decade, I participated in competitive choirs, took voice lessons, and performed in more musicals than I could count. I dreamed of Broadway and worked toward it earnestly. If someone[Read More…]
All That Jas
My name is Jasjot. In Punjabi, Jasjot—pronounced “Jus-joth”—has a beautiful meaning: Light, radiance, fame, glory. In English, however, the name Jasjot—pronounced “Jazz-jot”—bears no significance. Growing up, I hated hearing my name. It was a blaring symbol of my Indian identity that excluded me from the dominance of whiteness. From the[Read More…]
Redefining the I’s in Identity
The first year of university is a major transition for all students. For me, the biggest change was not just moving across the country, but additionally learning to adapt to a completely different environment, both culturally and socially. Culturally, as I grew up as a Taiwanese immigrant in a small,[Read More…]
No, I will not curb my enthusiasm
I always freeze up whenever I’m asked to describe myself. From introducing myself at the beginning of each elementary school year to writing college essays in high school, I consistently clam up in confusion when forced to encompass myself in a short paragraph. While basically everyone I know has experienced[Read More…]
