College Essay, deadline dangerously close... - Page 2

For a long time, I did not understand why I studied Chinese. Every Saturday for three years, I ATTENDED Chinese School to learn my ethnic language alongside my normal schoolwork.

Through those years, I learned without purpose; I just blindly absorbed the pinyin and memorized passages but found little use for it in my life. AT school, I spoke English, and at home, I SPOKE English as well. The knowledge was pushed aside and collected dust in a lonely corner IN my head. Ironically, I decided to apply to college IN Asian Studies.

Last summer, I didn't build homes for the poor in Guatemala nor DID I do groundbreaking research with Nobel Laureates REMOVE COMMA HERE but INSTEAD worked alongside a pharmacist as her technician in a Chinese pharmacy. My workday mainly consisted of scanning prescriptions or working the cash register selling merchandise, which I preferred because of interaction with Chinese customers. <- THIS SENTENCE IS WEIRD. FIX Because of my previous Chinese schooling, I could speak well enough to efficiently communicate with the customers. However, three years of schooling has its limits and occasionally, YOU HAVE EXTRA SPACE HERE I had trouble following especially inquisitive customers and went to my boss for aid.

One day, the store was VACANT? USE SOME HIGH VOCAB WORD HERE, so my boss decided to leave me alone in the store while she ran an errand. Moments later, a young female customer walked in to inspect our beauty care section. While she was preoccupied, I mentally readied myself by preparing responses to any questions she might ask. I started to get nervous because the boss would not be here to come to my rescue, and I did not want to give a bad impression of myself, especially to the opposite sex. She finally asked a question, but it was so specific and the vocabulary was so advanced that my first instinct was to say, “Huh?” Laughing and shaking her head, the female customer turned back to the products. She had the wrong impression of me. She thought I was clueless and too Americanized to know any Chinese. To show her otherwise, I quickly replied with, “What, I did not understand.” She nodded encouragingly and asked the question again. Her attitude had completely changed just because I showed her that I could speak and would try my best to speak Chinese. She then seemed eager for my help, especially because she could not read the English labels. I struggled a lot ; I could not translate specific terminology. When I had to translate “anti-wrinkle cream,” I mentally scrambled for the right words, but they never came and I resorted to physically gesticulating the word, “wrinkle.” By running my fingers down my face and pressing my cheeks to create creases, I was able to show her what I was trying to say. She confirmed this by asking, “Do I have any?” to which I quickly retorted “No, of course not!”

This experience showed me what I learned Chinese all these years for – to recreate the connection between me and my Chinese culture. I am a Chinese American and to only be suited to the American ways means I am only half of what I could be. By further pursuing Asian Studies, I can hope to reconnect with the other half of me so I can be complete with the best of both worlds.