Proud to be a Twinkie

I claim to be a twinkie (yellow on the outside, white on the inside) and for the most part, I am pretty white washed. I mean, I was born and raised in the OC- what can I say? But while I might not speak Chinese, Japanese (chotto) or Tagalog, and I’m admittedly the WORST at math, I’m still an Azian at heart.

As any Psychology or Sociology major will tell you, there are drastic differences in Western and Eastern cultures, education, beliefs. I’d bore your ears off if I discussed it to the extent that I would LIKE to, so I’ll sum it up in two sentences. Westerns believe that (academic) success comes because one is smart. Easterners believe that success comes because one works hard. [This article sums it up nicely AND is pretty interesting]

I grew up in an Asian household (woah, shocker), and was raised to believe that hard work and perseverance are the key to everything. Take a look at my parents- they are without a doubt the hardest working people I know. My mom had about three different jobs at one time growing up AND she was still there every day to greet us at the door by the time we got home from school. My dad? Well that man has no limit. He will work overtime shift after shift to help provide a good life for his family.

Throughout years of schooling, I would come home upset because after hours (hello, melodramatic much?) of studying, I still didn’t get the highest score in the class. Little Megan F (who, I swear NEVER even cracked her textbook) got a perfect score while I worked my a$$ off for my 92%. Year after year, I would plug precious time into studying, only to come up short compared to my other (less studious, might I add) classmates. And year after year, my mother would tell me “If you did the best you could, then that’s all that matters.” A mantra of “Do your best, doyourbest” is something I still mutter to myself on nervous first days, scary interviews, and intimidating classes.

Even to this day, I will watch as my roommates spend hours on the internet, messing around with each other while I slave at making lesson plans. Roommate 1? Beloved by his students and teachers. Even the Board of Education comes to watch his lessons to be an example “ideal English lesson”. Roommate 2? Reaches the hellions and helps them understand (and enjoy!) English. He comes home with stories of previous troublemakers who behaved like angels in his class. Someone will tell him on a weekly basis that he should go into teaching instead of whatever career.

Me? I have the student who punches me. The Japanese teacher who won’t let me speak during his class because his English is better (?? It’s really not). I have the teacher who mutters and laughs openly (I can only assume AT me) while I teach. The kids who look like they'd rather be sharpening their pencils with their eyeballs (don't worry kid, the feeling is mutual some days). Haha it's honestly ridiculous what happens in my day. Like, how does this even happen to one person?

East vs. West. Is there a way to mesh these styles? Or is it more of an oil and water situation?

Ok, in all fairness- I kinda went off on a tangent.  I have no idea how to wrap this blog post up with a pretty bow so I'm going to leave it at that. How do I get back to Twinkies?!??