I grew up in New Zealand, largely looked after by my working, single mother who was the first in her family to move there from China. When I was younger, my social circles were largely Caucasian. However as I grew up, I learned to appreciate the values the Asian community has instilled in me and sought to reintegrate myself and give back to New Zealand communities, with focus on the Asian population.
I remember two flatmates whose impact on me has been particularly lasting and profound. The first was a piano teacher from WenZhou, China, a part of whose rent who my mother paid in exchange for her teaching me piano. Learning piano not only fostered a sense of artistic creativity, but also taught me how to create and maintain my own practicing routine. Miss Wu’s teaching methods were extremely arduous. She placed far more emphasis on discipline than the Caucasian tutors who would teach me after her departure. Although her methods were strict, they ingrained in me a discipline which ultimately granted me the persistence to attain grade 8 in piano the highest grade one can obtain before qualifying teaching.
The flatmate we had after Miss Wu, Mr Liu, was one of the most important educating forces in my life. I remember him drilling me on how to use chopsticks correctly. Everyday I was assigned a task, such as moving chess pieces or marbles from one cup to another. In the beginning, it would take hours upon hours of frustration and tantrums. But by practicing everyday, I eventually mastered the use of chopsticks to the point where it only took five minutes to complete the task. Mr Liu taught Chinese and English to me in a similarly tantrum-inducing fashion; he made me memorize passages and reproduce transcripts until they were perfect. Once again, while at the time it was arduous, I greatly value the study habits he engraved into me.
More recently however, I feel that my participation in school groups has had a great influence on my character. I am currently in the Drama group and serve as leader of the Media groups for the Chinese and Korean Cultural Groups in my NZ high school. Drama helped me gain confidence and learn the importance of speaking clearly with enunciation, while leading of Media group improved my time management, leadership skills and further improved my ability to appeal to and assess social media through Facebook pages. Apart from enjoyment, another reason why I joined these groups was to represent and give back to the Asian community. While my social groups at the beginning of high school were largely Caucasian, I feel that being in these groups helped me remember my roots and instilled a sense of pride in having built such a strong new family.
Ultimately, I am extremely grateful that my childhood was blessed by such kind renters, and for my friends who I worked alongside with to create the Asian Cultural group productions. I am glad that our flatmates were earnest in helping my single mother, and by extension, helping me. I am appreciative of the discipline induced by them and humbled by their kindness in spite of their own struggles. The extensive time they dedicated to me gives me an image of the type of person I wish to be. This is partially why I chose to volunteer at Elizabeth Knox retirement village. I would go there once a week and made friends who I often help with technology; I have given one of them a touch typing program so that he may navigate the internet easier. It is these kind of deeds that I wish to continue performing within the community.