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The Intersection of Technology and Tradition
One of my uncles loves using shopping apps to buy cheap but cool items. There’s something new in their house almost every time we come over for dinner. He loves to talk about the items too, how functional they are and what a steal they were, only a couple dollars.
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Food That Remind Me of Home
Food is really important to me in my household, and after being in college the past couple of years, it really made me realize how much I miss my family, but whenever I feel this way there are some foods that bring me back.
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Exploring Myself: Culture and Gender
Poem by Eric Aquino.
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Unlearning Colorism
I think every Filipino girl has their fair share of horror stories about Titas who were much too grown and much too busy to have the time to be commenting on the appearance of girls who aren’t even theirs. To no fault but their own toxic upbringing, they judged anything and everything that caught their attention. Weight gain, weight loss, academics—the list goes on and on. However, there was one thing in particular that they would point out about without fail. Even more outside of my control than my fluctuating weight and static height—it was my skin color. Brown and so unlike the porcelain white skin that they believed to…
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A Piece of Self-Discovery in Spain
Understanding your true self takes time; for me, it took years. It was the vagueness of it all that sparked my anxiety: having no direction in life and feeling lost within the constraints of my own mind. You would think that even with large academic and long-term goals, I would feel more satisfied in fulfilling them with “ease,” but I continued to struggle with the idea of commitment and the thought that my dreams would somehow turn into reality.
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A Mother-Daughter’s Unbreakable Bond
For many, a mother is a role model, best friend, and pillar of strength for her daughter. A mother comforts her daughter during moments of weakness. A mother gives advice to her daughter on how to dress. A mother warns her daughter about boys. A mother, most importantly, loves her daughter unconditionally, as they emotionally understand their daughter the best. It is widely believed that the relationship between mothers and daughters is the strongest of all parent-child bonds, and although I disagreed with this belief for a long time, I now understand the truth.
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Breaking the Pattern: Intergenerational Trauma
In many Asian cultures, mental health is swept under the rug. It is not an excuse to not be okay as it is seen as a sign of weakness. Those who are similar in age to my parents strongly believe this as they were taught to do so by their mothers and fathers. Unfortunately, this is a dilemma that many younger generations and first generation kids continue to experience.
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A Moment Captured
A heart-warming and inspiring story by Julia Lanzona about her father immigrating to the States.
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Chin up, Kid
A poem by Julia Lanzona
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How I Felt Moving Away from my Asian Parents
Today is September 20th, 2022, almost a month since I left home. It’s been a while since I moved away and I miss it, but at the time I don’t miss it at all. Before this, I had never lived away from my parents. Heck, I haven’t ever even had a sleepover with anyone other than my cousin. I’ve never gone more than two day without seeing my parents. I’m a junior now, but before this I commuted from home to school and then back home again. I saw my parents everyday, and I have a good relationship with them. Sometimes it could feel a little suffocating, but at the…
