Angel sat down across from me at the lunch table, sitting comfortably and ready to answer the questions I have prepared. I looked at her with an engaged look and my coffee next to me.
“Are you ready?” I asked, and with a nonverbal nod, I began. “What elementary-middle school did you go to? How would you say the experience was?”
She hesitated with an awkward smile, “Damn... I don’t wanna say this out loud but it was [redacted]. I feel like, it was such a small school, I… sort of got the help I needed. Help as in, for high school admissions, but overall I wouldn’t say it was much different. We tend to spend more time on folk arts, my school, we… we had things called ensembles where they were like extracurricular classes.”
She continued to tell me about the classes she took as well as the ones she wanted to take, “I feel like my old school was definitely, very culturally embracing. So having that, it was very open gates for me- ish. Like I had diversity and stuff.”
I nodded with understanding. “Did you ever feel indifferent to your classmates for any reason?”
At this, she hesitated. “Um… I don’t think so. I wouldn’t say so. ‘Cuz our teachers always engraved the idea that everyone there is family. I didn’t feel much different, and plus like… I was friends with most of them. I talked to everyone- I mean that quite literally. I sort of like… I sort of never felt different. I guess indifferent like ethnicity-wise, no.”
She told me about how her community was very welcoming, but she could see how people who weren’t Chinese could have felt left out because they had a Chinese language class. As she talked, I could see the passion. “Was your race or ethnicity ever regarded in a way that you deemed questionable?”
She repeated the question and took her time to think. “Not really. I think being at that school where the student diversity was very Asian majority, I didn’t feel left out. Most of my classmates were Asian. I wouldn’t say I felt included either- it was just like I didn’t have to care much about my race or ethnicity.”
From what she’s told me thus far, I came to a realization. Angel’s childhood was very accepting when it came to race and culture. I compared it to mine, where I was singled growing out because I didn’t know people of the same ethnicity as me. “Was there a culture shock when you went to CAPA, which is a very diverse school?”
“No. Since CAPA and [middle school] were the same- because they are both very focused on the arts, just in different ways. But the diversity at CAPA was one of the factors as to why I chose it. Because [middle school] had majority Asians, and I wanted to meet more people.” She seemed nervous as she responded.
“Do you think your ideations have changed since middle school vs now?” I think Angel is a very solid person, who will stand firm on their opinions but are open to change it if needed.
“Mentally? Yeah. I had a growing phase between eighth and ninth grade… Um… ninth grade was very reflective- like. Um, I was trying my best to grow as a person and throw away my old habits of being impulsive- That’s still an issue.”
“Last question, Angel! Would you say your middle school life had everything to do with who you say you are now? Why?”
“I don’t know…” Angel looked panicked. “I don’t really think of myself as the same person I was in middle school.. But also yeah at the same time, because I had a lot of thinking to do. Mainly for high school selections, getting in here stuck with me because it was my middle school self’s decision.”
As the end of the interview comes, I realized that Angel had a very positive life when it comes to her childhood. This talk with her shows that depending on the schools you go to will be very important to your values and who you grow up to be.