Do not assume

I feel fortunate to have spent my school years in San Francisco. For college essay assignment, we wrote about stereotype (that's when I first found out what it was); and we had minors such as Asian American History and Holistic Health. Critical Thinking class was a General Education requirement. I also enjoyed Humanities, where I learned to use my student discounts to go to the symphony, plays and museums; and I read the mind-blowing "The Brave New World". Tai Chi and Aerobics for P.E. were fun and healthy! For the final assignment of my Speech class, I wrote about Hilary Clinton's Commencement Speech at our school. Of course, I wished I didn't drop the Philosophy class, and that I took more arts and music classes, and even business. But studying computer science was not a piece of cake, so the last couple of years I really had to focus on my major.

Even after that kind of education, I still made unintentional cultural taboos. At my first job in Austin, I asked my Indian co-worker: does everyone in India practice Yoga? When he said no, I was surprised. But then I instantly realized that it would be as if someone asked me: does everyone in China do Kung Fu? Which would be kind of ridiculous. Or when people told me: Asian students were good with math and science. From then on, I made an effort to keep an open mind about others. I love to talk to people about their culture and background. To me, it was a way to realize the fact that the world is round, and we are all different and it's OK.

Here are some other things I encountered over the years when one can make easy assumptions/generalization, but one would be wrong:

Being from China, I do not ride the bicycle, and I have at least two cousins who don't ride the bike.

Not all Koreans, Mexicans, or Indians can take spicy food.

Not all Germans drink alcohol or ski.


Indeed, the only thing we can count on is: we are all different, and the world changes.