When brainstorming ideas for my writing, I search deep into my memories. Despite having a lot of experiences at school and camp, I’m always drawn back to my memories at home with my family. I write a lot about the conflicts I face at home, especially the conflicts with myself. A theme that appears throughout most of my work is my cultural identity as a first generation asian american and the conflicts that are caused because of it. I’ve always struggled with my identity growing up, but I never understood how to explain it. It wasn’t until I was in my late teens was I able to articulate my cultural conflicts, so most of my writing now has been for releasing tension inside of myself that has built throughout my lifetime.
I’ve always been interested in social issues, but this semester, I really focused on social justice in relation to myself. The self reflection helped me understand what is truly important to me. Because I’ve begun to understand the problems I’ve faced in the past, I can better emphasize with other social justice issues that I can’t necessarily relate to. I’ve discovered the faults in society which cause many injustices. In the future, I want to continue creating work that explores other parts of identity, specifically, related to gender and sexuality.
