For as long as I can remember, I've had a pet peeve of being called "smart" or "genius". Yes, I skipped three grades in math and one overall, yes I'm currently in two AP courses, yes as an 11 year old I scored a high enough SAT score to get me into a community college, yes as a 13 year old I scored over 2000 on the SAT, yes a month later I got a 109.5 on the AMC where a 110 was the cut-off for top 1% in the country, yes I was the top scorer in Nashua North on the AMC 10 because of this, yes I finished both Kumon Math and Reading programs, a feat achieved by less than 100 people internationally. However, the phrase "You're a genius" is very narrow and short sighted observation unless you know my IQ. It is an assumption based on an cursory and eccentric appearance of success. Let me go back to the roots of Asian-American history and the history of my own parents to explain why this is so.
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Despite what most people think, there were two waves of Chinese Immigration to America. The first was in 1849, due to the California gold rush, and the second was in the 1949, due to the Communist revolution in China. However, to fully understand what I'm going to say, you must understand the events leading up to the emigration of 1849.
China's history has always been separated in dynasties. In 1644, Manchurians toppled the Ming dynasty and started the Qing Dynasty. This group thought that they were superior to the Han, or the rulers of the Ming Dynasty. To humiliate them, they forced the men to wear long braided queues (your stereotypical old Chinese guy look). However, the most effective method of mass control was the imperial examination system.
Under this examination system, peasants could take tests to advance in social status. As such person climbed the ladder of success, competition grew more and more fierce. The best of the best were allowed to serve in the very top level of government. However, this was not totally fair because the Manchurian families could afford to pay for tutors for their children. Eventually conditions for peasants grew so bad under Manchurian rule that when the news of the Gold Rush got out, virtually all men of age rushed to the docks, getting on a ship prepared to sail to San Francisco. They hoped to get money to provide for their family back home and hire tutors for their children. Because of this, the need for high academic performance was instilled in Chinese children at a very young age.
Like most of the other gold miners, the Chinese found that they could get more money providing services for the miners than actually mining. During that time laundry was a very time consuming process. It would take literally 6 months to get clean laundry returned because clothes must be sent back to the other side of the country to be washed. Therefore, many of the Chinese formed Laudromats. Some of the men formed restaurants as well.
The phrase "chop suey" comes from Chinese food service to Caucasians. Minutes before the closing of a Chinese restaurant, a group of drunken Caucasians came in and demanded to be served immediately. In haste, the chef prepared a simple dish of leftover meats and vegetables. In Chinese, "chop suey" literally means chopped leftovers. This is also why my parents call San Francisco Kitchen “chop suey”; it is geared towards the tastes of Caucasians.
Despite what you may think, the Chinese created half of the transcontinental highway. Their employers were impressed by how efficiently they did the job. They worked at twice the speed of their Caucasian co-workers and because they rarely drank, they never experienced "blue Mondays". The Chinese were also very frugal. They rarely spent money even simple luxuries like soda (just an example, soda probably didn't exist at the time) and lived together in apartments. There were so many of them in a single room that they took turns sleeping.
Despite this veneer of relative success, the Chinese suffered extreme discrimination. During the economic recessions of 1870s, anti-Chinese feelings started growing. Because of their frugal lifestyle, they were able to stay financially independent. Eventually, the hatred escalated to point where the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1877 was passed. It wasn't until the 1940s that Chinese were allowed to legally immigrate. Of course, they figured out how to do so illegally up until that point.
Without going into the histories of the Sino-Japanese wars, the rise of Mao and TiananmenSquare (blank stares), I will just say that the next wave of Chinese immigration were the intellectuals of China, the scientists, mathematicians etc.
After Pearl Harbor and during the economic recessions of 1980s, Chinese were once again the victims of unjustified discrimination. Chinese scientists working in nuclear laboratories were suspected of being Japanese spies. In their bigotry, the heads of the weapon research groups fired some of the best and brightest scientists of the day. When General Motors was began mass layoffs of auto-workers in Detroit due to competition from Japan-based Toyota and Honda, the Chinese were blamed. A group of laid-off drunken workers killed a Chinese man they saw nearby, blaming him for their occupational reprieve. Though not as dramatic as the Japanese labor camps, Chinese faced much discrimination in both the 19th and 20th century.
It is because of this discrimination that many Chinese parents want their children to become either a doctor, engineer or lawyer. The first two are fields in which little communication with Caucasian co-workers is necessary to be competent. The third is based on the naive "if you're a lawyer, you will be able to rid anti-Chinese laws and prejudices" attitude.
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Despite what most people think, there were two waves of Chinese Immigration to America. The first was in 1849, due to the California gold rush, and the second was in the 1949, due to the Communist revolution in China. However, to fully understand what I'm going to say, you must understand the events leading up to the emigration of 1849.
China's history has always been separated in dynasties. In 1644, Manchurians toppled the Ming dynasty and started the Qing Dynasty. This group thought that they were superior to the Han, or the rulers of the Ming Dynasty. To humiliate them, they forced the men to wear long braided queues (your stereotypical old Chinese guy look). However, the most effective method of mass control was the imperial examination system.
Under this examination system, peasants could take tests to advance in social status. As such person climbed the ladder of success, competition grew more and more fierce. The best of the best were allowed to serve in the very top level of government. However, this was not totally fair because the Manchurian families could afford to pay for tutors for their children. Eventually conditions for peasants grew so bad under Manchurian rule that when the news of the Gold Rush got out, virtually all men of age rushed to the docks, getting on a ship prepared to sail to San Francisco. They hoped to get money to provide for their family back home and hire tutors for their children. Because of this, the need for high academic performance was instilled in Chinese children at a very young age.
Like most of the other gold miners, the Chinese found that they could get more money providing services for the miners than actually mining. During that time laundry was a very time consuming process. It would take literally 6 months to get clean laundry returned because clothes must be sent back to the other side of the country to be washed. Therefore, many of the Chinese formed Laudromats. Some of the men formed restaurants as well.
The phrase "chop suey" comes from Chinese food service to Caucasians. Minutes before the closing of a Chinese restaurant, a group of drunken Caucasians came in and demanded to be served immediately. In haste, the chef prepared a simple dish of leftover meats and vegetables. In Chinese, "chop suey" literally means chopped leftovers. This is also why my parents call San Francisco Kitchen “chop suey”; it is geared towards the tastes of Caucasians.
Despite what you may think, the Chinese created half of the transcontinental highway. Their employers were impressed by how efficiently they did the job. They worked at twice the speed of their Caucasian co-workers and because they rarely drank, they never experienced "blue Mondays". The Chinese were also very frugal. They rarely spent money even simple luxuries like soda (just an example, soda probably didn't exist at the time) and lived together in apartments. There were so many of them in a single room that they took turns sleeping.
Despite this veneer of relative success, the Chinese suffered extreme discrimination. During the economic recessions of 1870s, anti-Chinese feelings started growing. Because of their frugal lifestyle, they were able to stay financially independent. Eventually, the hatred escalated to point where the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1877 was passed. It wasn't until the 1940s that Chinese were allowed to legally immigrate. Of course, they figured out how to do so illegally up until that point.
Without going into the histories of the Sino-Japanese wars, the rise of Mao and TiananmenSquare (blank stares), I will just say that the next wave of Chinese immigration were the intellectuals of China, the scientists, mathematicians etc.
After Pearl Harbor and during the economic recessions of 1980s, Chinese were once again the victims of unjustified discrimination. Chinese scientists working in nuclear laboratories were suspected of being Japanese spies. In their bigotry, the heads of the weapon research groups fired some of the best and brightest scientists of the day. When General Motors was began mass layoffs of auto-workers in Detroit due to competition from Japan-based Toyota and Honda, the Chinese were blamed. A group of laid-off drunken workers killed a Chinese man they saw nearby, blaming him for their occupational reprieve. Though not as dramatic as the Japanese labor camps, Chinese faced much discrimination in both the 19th and 20th century.
It is because of this discrimination that many Chinese parents want their children to become either a doctor, engineer or lawyer. The first two are fields in which little communication with Caucasian co-workers is necessary to be competent. The third is based on the naive "if you're a lawyer, you will be able to rid anti-Chinese laws and prejudices" attitude.
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My parents are considered part of the second wave, but they were born and raised in Vietnam. However, their families did not assimilate and they remained Chinese (VBCs... Vietnamese Born Chinese). My father was born in a family of eight. My grandfather saw my dad's desire to learn and enrolled him in a private French boarding school so that his wife would have one less mouth to feed. No doubt, this caused a lot of anger among his siblings. He has constantly given me advice, "If they don't like you, it’s because they're jealous of you." He is someone to truly understand that.
In Vietnam, a test must be taken to determine which colleges an individual is qualified for. It’s similar to the SAT, except that it was the only information that a college used to pick its students. Despite his boarding school education, my dad barely scored higher than the average 50%. Because of this, he was restricted from studying abroad.
Before the Communists took control over South Vietnam, my grandfather had bribed for three seats on a flight from Vietnam to America. They were planned for my father and his second and third oldest younger brothers. It just so happened that the flight happened in the middle of my father’s week of final exams. He decided to stay for a few more days in order finish his exam. His 3rd brother took his spot on the plane.
This was a life-changing decision. My grandfather found an illegal smuggling group that promised to bring his first son out safely for a small fee. However, this turned out to be a double-edged scam; money was thrown out the window and my father was put into a prison for three years. Eventually, he got to America under the request for family re-unification.
In America, my father's request to continue studies in a Masters program was rejected because he studied at an obscure Vietnam-based college. Therefore, he had to study as an undergrad in his early thirties. My mother had never learned English while in Vietnam and therefore had to take college courses and ESL concurrently. On top of this, their finances were crumbling, forcing them to work long hours at restaurants as waiters and waitresses.
Additionally, it took a while for my parents to have kids. In her mid-thirties, my mom gave birth and I somehow did not have Down's Syndrome. A Christian since her teens, my mother gave me the name, luh tin lok, meaning "The Lord's Promise". If you had noticed that the name of this blog was my name backwards, you should probably now notice that my middle name is the English transliteration of my Chinese name minus the family name.
Probably because she didn't want me to suffer from a language barrier and because she didn’t want me to have to re-learn information while I was in my late twenties like my father, my mom taught me a lot. Before I was five, I could write letters and numbers. When I was five, my parents enrolled me in Kumon, a type of "self-tutoring" that was based on the principle of repetition.
In first grade, I could add and subtract. By second grade, I could divide and multiply. When I was young, I used to spend a lot of time at one of my friends house, especially during school vacations and Jewish holidays (I went to a private Montessori school as a first and second grader). I would get there around 8 and do these Kumon worksheets before she woke up. When I was learning division, I was crying because I didn't understand how to do them. Even my friend’s mom disagreed with my mom on making me do these worksheets. My mom insisted that I continue doing them, knowing that the "pain" I suffered should be experienced when I was young, rather than when I was in high school, college or beyond.
So time went along. When I moved to New Hampshire in the middle of fifth grade, I skipped a grade because I already had the reading and mathematical skills necessary to advance. Additionally, the school district I was to attend would be too easy for me. As a sixth grader, I did algebra. As an eighth grader I was bused to the high-school to take Algebra II. Currently a sophomore I am in AP Calc and AP Comp sci.
So before you say, "You're a genius", look deeper
In America, my father's request to continue studies in a Masters program was rejected because he studied at an obscure Vietnam-based college. Therefore, he had to study as an undergrad in his early thirties. My mother had never learned English while in Vietnam and therefore had to take college courses and ESL concurrently. On top of this, their finances were crumbling, forcing them to work long hours at restaurants as waiters and waitresses.
Additionally, it took a while for my parents to have kids. In her mid-thirties, my mom gave birth and I somehow did not have Down's Syndrome. A Christian since her teens, my mother gave me the name, luh tin lok, meaning "The Lord's Promise". If you had noticed that the name of this blog was my name backwards, you should probably now notice that my middle name is the English transliteration of my Chinese name minus the family name.
Probably because she didn't want me to suffer from a language barrier and because she didn’t want me to have to re-learn information while I was in my late twenties like my father, my mom taught me a lot. Before I was five, I could write letters and numbers. When I was five, my parents enrolled me in Kumon, a type of "self-tutoring" that was based on the principle of repetition.
In first grade, I could add and subtract. By second grade, I could divide and multiply. When I was young, I used to spend a lot of time at one of my friends house, especially during school vacations and Jewish holidays (I went to a private Montessori school as a first and second grader). I would get there around 8 and do these Kumon worksheets before she woke up. When I was learning division, I was crying because I didn't understand how to do them. Even my friend’s mom disagreed with my mom on making me do these worksheets. My mom insisted that I continue doing them, knowing that the "pain" I suffered should be experienced when I was young, rather than when I was in high school, college or beyond.
So time went along. When I moved to New Hampshire in the middle of fifth grade, I skipped a grade because I already had the reading and mathematical skills necessary to advance. Additionally, the school district I was to attend would be too easy for me. As a sixth grader, I did algebra. As an eighth grader I was bused to the high-school to take Algebra II. Currently a sophomore I am in AP Calc and AP Comp sci.
So before you say, "You're a genius", look deeper
- Take a look at the roots of a highly-academically competitive society.
- Take a look at the difficulties the Chinese have had to assimilate with American culture simply because of their skin color and efficiency.
- Take a look at how much undeserved racism the Chinese experienced during the recessions and the Japanese war.
- Take a look at how this discrimination caused a withdrawal in math and science fields and glorified law.
- Take a look at the extremes that the Chinese took to stay financially stable.
- Take a look at how my Dad sacrificed 3 years of his life to get a college degree (even if he lost it again). Take a look at how he worked hard to ensure that he could get it back.
- Take a look at how my mom went through a language barrier while studying in college.
- Take a look at how my parents tried to keep me from suffering these hardships when I was older.
Before you say, "You're a genius", just say "You’re an above average Asian".
Funny thing is, I had a legitimate IQ test taken in 3rd grade. I got a (EDITED OUT - 7/7/13).
P.S. I didn't research all about Chinese history for a blogpost. Iris Chang has written two books about Chinese history. One is about Chinese in America and the other is about the atrocities of the Sino-Japanese War. You’re Asian and you gave me blank stares when I mentioned Sino-Japanese War, Mao or Tiananmen Square, you are clearly white-washed and should read them before you embarrass yourself like so:
P.S. I didn't research all about Chinese history for a blogpost. Iris Chang has written two books about Chinese history. One is about Chinese in America and the other is about the atrocities of the Sino-Japanese War. You’re Asian and you gave me blank stares when I mentioned Sino-Japanese War, Mao or Tiananmen Square, you are clearly white-washed and should read them before you embarrass yourself like so:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdxVywetepM&NR=1
That's a very informative and thought-provoking blog post. I'm assuming that you'd agree with me if I said most, or at least some, humans could be "geniuses" if they were brought up in similar conditions or forced through certain disciplines. Also, we should also assume that the word genius is a subjective definition comparing the intellectual exponents of society to those who aren't so intellectually advanced, if you will. Since you are intellectually precocious, you are part of the intellectual exponents of society; hence, you are a genius. ;)
ReplyDeleteYeah, I purposely disproved my whole point by adding my IQ score.
ReplyDeleteHmm, well as I'm younger and less of an intellectual, my comment won't be much of use. But here are some of my thoughts.
ReplyDelete1: It was very well written and when I looked through the writing principals of my "How to raise your SAT writing score" book, you nailed about 80% of them at least once.
2. The chronological ordering was also superb. I couldn't find many relapses of time. It just constantly went forward.
3. I loved the little "lul" factor you added in the ending =D
lol, i know about the sino-jap war is the war agaist chinese + japanese in the late 1800's ans another at the time of ww2 i think, Moa is the commi leader at the time. And Teananman square is when the peaceful protester got massacre by the commi army. yay, im not white wash XD
ReplyDeletelol downloadable ram
ReplyDeletewat?
ReplyDeletewow! that was really awesome victor. (i'm being totally serious now.... which is weird because i can't remember the last time i said something totally serious to you). haha i thought the first part before how this all affected you personally was like my history textbook (which is interesting because we're actually learning about the chinese exclusion act!) but your parents' stories really made me think and appreciate what i have so thanks for sharing that.
ReplyDeleteand FYI I DO KNOW WHAT THE SINO-JAPANESE WAR WAS THANK YOU VERY MUCH and i have heard of iris chang!!! dindt she write "the rape of nanking"? thats my 10th grade history teacher's favorite book.
Huh, I can't tell whether or not you are trying to relay a correct basis for a conclusion that was created incorrectly, or possibly something else.
ReplyDeleteRegardless,
1. I personally think "genius" is a term that in our society today should rarely be used seriously, because in our world book smarts or street smarts or personality smarts alone can only get you half the way there. Now on the other hand, which I doubt happening because our society has become so restricting, I would still say someone can be a genius in the traditional sense, such as Newton/Einstein/etc.
As well, in my mind there has been a conflict between "smart" in the books sense. Personally I don't find people smart because they can grab A's in school and score high on SATs, merely because these things I feel everyone has ability to do (maybe at least by "asian" standards).
2. To Chinese history, I was lucky to take a history this class this year that briefly went over China. I was able to learn a great deal of mostly everything important in the last century or so. Definitely I'd agree with you in saying everyone who is Asian-American should know at least a basic overview of where they come from, especially with everything happening now. I think you mainly talked about the history part for the explanation of how Chinese received the huge urge to learn/excel? Not only from all the discrimination and past Maoist events such as T-Square which I then ask have you heard of the Tank Man? But I do think deeply rooted values in Chinese culture add significantly to this fact.
3. I'd say a good amount of our parents have been through A LOT in their life, at least my parents have. My grandfather was a leader in the Guomingdan, and my father never met him until my father was 32 years old. (my grandfather fled to Taiwan with his party). My grandmother on my father's side had to take up 5 children (1 illegitimate child) alone. Because of this, my dad and his siblings were sent very early to work in factories/fields for money for food. My dad was able to come overseas because of a pooling of money, though he was the only one in his family able to do so. He obtained a student's visa and worked as an assistant to a professor to stay in college. I guess the rest is history.
My mom on the other hand came from an easier family in Beijing, but not easy as us nonetheless.
I do also say that not only Chinese history, but our ancestor's general history should be and is extremely important. Sorry for the long reply, dunno why I am talking, I guess I was just procrastinating from work.
last two things, IQ tests are meh, and I find a great deal of things in life much more meaningful/useful than getting good grades/going to a good college/getting a good job. Though I haven't found it for me yet...
LAST thing, society is also binding in that so many advantageous people waste their talents/skills/smarts on crappy things.
I'm rotting as well.
In reply to all:
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comments, I really feel strongly about this, so its great to get some feedback.
In reply to fat dan:
1. Yeah, there's was a lot of confusion about that. One of my friends who is in AP English Composition said she was going to comment, but didn't because she didn't understand my point. Basically, I edited it to say "It is shallow to call me a genius if you don't know my IQ score". IQ measures your ability to simply learn by measuring your pattern-noticing abilities: relationships between numbers and polygons etc. The SAT does not. I have a really good example that Ill add in a later post. The closest intelligence measurer that is a standardized test is the American Math Competitions Tests. It tests your problem solving ability rather than your acquisition of knowledge. Basically, knowing parametric differentiation will not help you on it.
2. Sorry, I don't know who tank-man is, so I guess I'm somewhat white-washed. But the people I was referencing to by white-washed were people like Tiffany, April and Maryanne. Tiffany thought the capital of China was Shanghai. Maryanne thought that it was Hong Kong. April's just April. No offense to any of you, but like dan said, its imperative to understand your roots and your upbringing
3. Yes, I completely agree with you on the point of IQ. There are several ways to measure IQ. Theres an emotional quotient (your ability to handle your emotions), social quotient(how well you can connect and make bonds with others, not necessarily your extroversion), marriage quotient(compromising with another on a viewpoint), etc. So although the term "genius" can be used aptly for IQ, you (meaning everyone) should also consider more real-life examples of "genius" such as your ability to interact with others.
Wonderful entry my fellow Sophomore.
ReplyDeleteI learned multiplication and division in 1st grade though. :o
I only know a bit about the sino-jap war, but I know about the history of taiwan and stuff. am I whitewashed?
ReplyDeleteNot really, but if you have some free time you should look into it. Its kind of like history, it doesn't seem important to know at first (especially when you're in middle school) but as you get older you will start to understand more about yourself if you know your history.
ReplyDelete