Now on the model minority issue, what would you have said if they interviewed a white or black kid? I think it’s good that they interviewed an Asian kid–I mean, how often does an Asian get to open his mouth on national TV or in a movie without some chopsocky/foreign-sounding gibberish coming out? The most famous Asian actors on TV play foreigners, for God’s sake–Daniel Dae Kim and Masi Oka. And I wouldn’t be too sensitive about the Asian achiever stereotype–think about all the Asians you know–don’t they fit into that? There are powerful cultural reasons why many Asians do well, and it doesn’t just have to do with the fact that many Asians came here as professionals. Ask yourself, why are there a lot of engineers and scientists from Asia coming over here? Because these cultural factors are present even in the home countries. It is wrong, of course, when they use the stereotypes to indirectly put down other minorities because other groups had arguable worse experiences here. Yet it doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be proud of our achievements collectively, just like every group.

Now on the model minority issue, what would you have said if they interviewed a white or black kid? I think it’s good that they interviewed an Asian kid–I mean, how often does an Asian get to open his mouth on national TV or in a movie without some chopsocky/foreign-sounding gibberish coming out? The most famous Asian actors on TV play foreigners, for God’s sake–Daniel Dae Kim and Masi Oka. And I wouldn’t be too sensitive about the Asian achiever stereotype–think about all the Asians you know–don’t they fit into that? There are powerful cultural reasons why many Asians do well, and it doesn’t just have to do with the fact that many Asians came here as professionals. Ask yourself, why are there a lot of engineers and scientists from Asia coming over here? Because these cultural factors are present even in the home countries. It is wrong, of course, when they use the stereotypes to indirectly put down other minorities because other groups had arguable worse experiences here. Yet it doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be proud of our achievements collectively, just like every group.

as for adjusting to college life, it varied by kid. back when i went through it, there were only a few of us running around a large college campus and nobody even knew that kids could go to college early. some of the students would get mad because they would get asked if they were lost or were looking for a parent. and then dougie houser came out, and all of a sudden that’s what we were called by everybody every day.

some of the boys felt that being in college at such a young age hampered their social life, especially with girls. i mean, most college girls aren’t interested in 14 year old boys. and some of the girls were creeped out by the college aged guys that would ask them out. as the program got bigger and there were more and more kids, it became easier for them since they could all hang out with each other.

as for adjusting to college life, it varied by kid. back when i went through it, there were only a few of us running around a large college campus and nobody even knew that kids could go to college early. some of the students would get mad because they would get asked if they were lost or were looking for a parent. and then dougie houser came out, and all of a sudden that’s what we were called by everybody every day.

some of the boys felt that being in college at such a young age hampered their social life, especially with girls. i mean, most college girls aren’t interested in 14 year old boys. and some of the girls were creeped out by the college aged guys that would ask them out. as the program got bigger and there were more and more kids, it became easier for them since they could all hang out with each other.