Artist: Phoebe Nuyen

This illustration represents the distinct halves of second-generation immigrants. Through the use of vibrant hues the different aspects of varying cultures are conveyed.

“I don’t speak Vietnamese, [but] I can understand it. Having that deeper connection is just, I don’t have it,” said junior Amanda Pham, a Vietnamese-American. 

   Between the three examples, all of them can relate to having another language, but there are varying levels of comprehension. Not all second-generation immigrants will connect with those parts of themselves or have it come as easily as others, and that might come as a shock to some.

   There are many differing expectations of what should be the norm for kids like these, from different figures in their lives. What is most often the case for specifically Asian-American stereotypes and assumptions is academic excellence, though those stereotypes are often founded in truth. 

   “A lot of standards to be, like, getting good grades, and having a good reputation, and in Indonesia there are very high standards to have a good education, and do good and school, and live a good life,” said Tjoar. “Because, in Indonesia, it’s very hard to come to America, so my parents think that since they were coming to America they know that they gave me a better chance in life like they’ve given me more opportunities, so there’s a lot of expectations for me.” 

   In most cases of immigration, as Tjoar illuminated, the parents’ motivations for immigration are to give their children a better life, and better opportunities than they would have had in their own country. However, histories of past immigration waves were always rooted in a sense of inferiority to, most often, white people, even when they were the ones immigrating. There is a systemic part of the society in America that perpetuates people who are not a part of that group to be lesser. And it’s stressful, having the pressure to have all of the required qualities that define success. 

   “I do feel like, sometimes, an overachiever. That’s kind of how I was raised, with academic excellence, and trying to get into schools and live a good life. I guess that’s my motivation in school and the principles I was raised on,” said Pham.  

   Fundamentally, most Asian cultures demand greatness. It’s seen in the countless stories or headlines that are heard about child prodigies and skill levels unimaginable for even adults. Talents, skills, mastery, perfection; all those are highly sought out qualities. 

   “Culturally, there’s just the push to be academically gifted because and do a lot because they see that as the only path towards success is to get into a good college and stability,” said Wu. “I don’t feel pressured by my parents, or like that, I hate doing what I do in school because it’s all my parents. I do like doing well in school and being ‘smart’ but I feel like those are values that have been instilled in me at a young age.”

   Separating whether or not it is one’s own pursuit of perfection or it is the need to fulfill and make their parents and peers proud is a difficult task, which requires them to ask the question of what they actually want in their lives, what are their own aspirations. Are they doing this to make their parents proud, or because they actually enjoy it? It usually ends up as a mix of both. The early childhood years of development are usually where people most often build the foundation for their personalities and selfhoods, so when parents encourage academic greatness, it essentially coagulates into a part of that identity, creating those Asian-American stereotypes. 

  “It’s similar to the realistic expectation of Chinese immigrants but differs from the perceived expectation of like, tiger parents, which I know is true for some people. But I feel like my parents are a lot more supportive than I think people tend to think they should be, but I think that is the norm within the communities, they’re demanding but also incredibly supportive in a lot of ways that are understated within stereotypes[/pullquote]But I feel like my parents are a lot more supportive than I think people tend to think they should be, but I think that is the norm within the communities, they’re demanding but also incredibly supportive in a lot of ways that are understated within stereotypes,” said Wu. 

  Moving on into everyday life, second-generation immigrants live in America and consume the resources provided by it, however a connection between the two strides a fine line of actual attachment or indifference. 

   “I engage in it because it’s the culture I exist in right now, very specifically, very broadly. I eat at American restaurants most of the time, I learn everything in American, I consume American media more than I consume Chinese media,” said Wu, “I don’t feel like I do it because I’m connected with it, but because it’s what surrounds me.”

America is simply a location. But it is also a melting pot of cultures as one of the world’s largest superpowers and first-world countries, and it has its own unique circumstances that will differ from those of other regions. For some, it is an integral part of their identity and they are expressly patriotic, but for others it’s more so, again, just a location. It is the place where they are currently residing. 

“I feel like I lean more to my Indonesian culture because that’s who I started off as. I spoke Indonesian, I was introduced into their culture first, I ate Indonesian food right, and I go there every summer, so I feel like I’m really connected to my Indonesian culture,” said Tjoar. “The only part of me that’s really connected here is that I go to school here everyday, but besides that everyday I go home to my Indonesian traditions and cultures so I feel like I’m more connected to that.”

 For others, the story is different and some people don’t feel as connected to their culture as they are to America because of the distance between them and their traditions, language, and faraway family. 

“I feel like I learn more towards my American culture because for the majority of my day, I am surrounded by the people who were raised in America. I’m surrounded by American things and people, more than I am by Vietnamese people,” said Pham. 

Again, it once more comes back to the subject of identity. Being American and then also having another culture is unique in that they can’t ever really be truly one or the other. There is always the other side, and it’s difficult to choose if where one lives currently is more integral to their self, or their histories and traditions from thousands of miles away. 

It’s always the fact of simply being different from both of those sides that makes everything so hard to define. 

“Always knowing that you’re different, cause, in America first I ate different food, I had different traditions, I had a different religion. And I was constantly reminded how different I was, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but a unique thing and I couldn’t really understand why I was so different,” said Tjoar. “And then, in Indonesia, I’m also so different because I have a different accent, I look different, and it was hard for me at a young age to understand how come I was so different to both America and Indonesia.”

Tjoar goes back to her family’s home country of Indonesia every summer, and she expressed how in both places she’s an outlier to the majority. And if neither of the two halves can be a whole on their own, then what of putting them together? The result is an Asian-American second-generation immigrant, an identity coming from two different parts of the world but never fully resonating with either. 

“I don’t feel like, perhaps I feel more comfortable in American culture because it’s basically all I know like if you dropped me in China I would have no clue what’s going on, but I don’t feel particularly aligned with American culture and I don’t think it’s my identity,” said Wu. 

“I would say I’m not as involved as I would like to be. I grew up thinking that I had to be like everybody else, so I didn’t really appreciate my culture as much as I should have. I don’t have that deep connection with it as much as I wish I could have,” said Pham. 

“We all feel different in some sort of way, we feel both different here in America and in our own countries,” said Tjoar. Grappling with the simple fact that perhaps, they will never truly belong to either side of themself, it’s a fight with existence and identity itself. A country far away that some are either intimately familiar with, or that some have never set foot in is the driving part of what defines them. Treading the line between one half of the world and another half of the world, unable to fit in regarding appearances, language, family, values; those factors characterize the struggles of many second-generation immigrants.