SCHOOL DAZE:
THE SMART ASIAN SYNDROME
By Gil Asakawa
May 22, 1999

Aren't all Asians supposed to be smart, especially in subjects such as math and science? Well, I was a good student -- the model minority and all that. I was near the top of my graduating class, but I wasn't a straight-A student in high school.

I also never took any more advanced math courses beyond algebra and trigonometry. That's as far as I needed to go in the math department. I can honestly say I've never had to deal with a sine, cosine or tangent in my life since high school.

I left that super-smart stuff to my brother Gary, who's a year older than me. He was headed to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to study engineering, and he was the one playing with computer data cards (they used cards and magnetic reel-to-reel tapes on gigantic computers that covered a wall back then).

Me, I split my days between the English Resource Center (a fancy 1970s word for the library) and the art department. My friends may have thought of me as a brainy kid, but my energy was channeled more towards words and pictures. I was on the Alameda High School yearbook staff as a photographer, and the newspaper staff as a photographer, reporter and cartoonist. And when I wasn't in the ERC, you could find me drawing in the art room.

In the end, my interest in art won out over my interest in journalism. I went to art school in New York City and got a BFA in painting. But look where I ended up -- I became a journalist in spite of myself, and make my living now with words. (I have a confession to make here -- sorry mom: I was lazy in college, and though I graduated "with honors," I skipped classes and crammed a semester's work into a couple of weeks, preferring instead to learn guitar, volunteer in the school radio station and write music reviews....)

I mention all this personal history because I love to tell students that they should follow their hearts, and if they're committed to it, they'll find a way to make a living at it.

The same goes for students of Asian heritage, though it does seem that Asian students can have more options open to them because of their successes in school. Asian American students do well because of a lot of reasons, but I'm not sure it's because of their skin color. I think a big part of it is the way they're brought up, which in a way is because they're Asian. A cliche? Yes, sure. A simple explanation? Yep.

I knew that I was supposed to get good grades, or else. Well, actually, I'm not sure what would have happened. I know the most angry I ever saw my father was when I got a "C" in handwriting. But then, he wasn't as mad at the grade itself than at the way I tried to hide the report card from him. I guess I felt I would be overcome with shame if I got bad grades. It wasn't about failing my classes, it was about failing my parents.

The author T.R. Reid writes in his great new book, "Confucius Lives Next Door," about the Japanese school system, and the East Asian family structure that instills Confucian values in children. Reid's right. I think I was raised with those values too, even though I never heard of Confucianism growing up.

I've been thinking about my high school years (boy, they were a long time ago -- the class of '75 celebrates its 25th reunion in the year 2000!) today because this morning I attended the 14th annual award ceremony sponsored by the Asian Education Advisory Council. The event was a wonderful celebration of students who worked hard and deserved every accolade they received.

Like other events I've attended lately, the best part about the AEAC banquet was its pan-Asian spirit. Way back when I was a high school student in suburban Denver, my older brother and I were almost alone as Asian American students. There was one other Japanese family in the area, and their daughter attended while we were at Alameda. But this was a show of unity for all the Asian communities that call Denver home. Award winners were Vietnamese, Korean, Chinese, Indian, Thai and more, and ranged from a darling kindergarten student to elementary, middle school and a stage full of high schoolers. And the program featured performances from a talented young Chinese woman singing a bilingual pop song and a young quartet of Laotian girls in a traditional dance.

The keynote speaker was a student this year instead of a "grownup" as in previous years. Hanh Phi gave a moving tribute to her parents and the sacrifices they made -- they came to the U.S. during the Vietnam War and wanted her to attain the "American Dream." She's well on her way, with a long list of accomplishments through school, and graduating as class valedictorian for John F. Kennedy High School.

I feel sure if these kids continue their hard work and commitment to their studies, they can take any path they choose in life, and succeed. I just hope they'll take college a little more seriously than I did!

Gil Asakawa is a third-generation Japanese American who has lived in Denver since 1972, and he is the president of the Mile-Hi Chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League and a board member of the Japan America Society of Colorado. He spends way too much time surfing the Web. His "Nikkei View" column is posted online weekly at:

http://nikkeiview.com