Eight years ago at the airport, before I was about to embark on my journey to the US as an international student, my mom said to me with all her seriousness: “Remember, don’t mingle with other Chinese kids all the time. You’ll have to be surrounded by and work with ‘real’ Americans after you graduate and that’s the key to entering the mainstream of American society.” I thought about and pondered what my mom said a lot over the past few years. Honestly, I had been lost and confused, but through my experiences, in the US I have developed a stronger sense of belonging here and pride in my culture.

Last year, to stand up against the hate crimes toward the AAPI community, my co-workers and I at Polydott made a PSA called “The Armor” advocating that the pride we have towards our own culture can be the strongest armor. During the production, for the first time, I learned about the history of Chinese Americans, which I had little knowledge about. I established a whole new understanding of what “American people” means. I deeply resonated with all the ups and downs Chinese immigrants have gone through in the US. 

Immediately, after the PSA, our team put our heads together and created a course featuring the AAPI picture books and we explored the achievements of Chinese Americans as well as our culture celebrated in the Chinese community. Through the journey of developing the course, I felt so grateful that despite my struggles, I chose to stay true to who I am, to be critical of the idea of a limited “mainstream” and to be proud of my Chinese culture. My vision as a bilingual educator to introduce Chinese culture to people here in the US and celebrate the diversity of my culture has not changed. It’s simply been altered and upgraded. I will keep sharing our culture and the stories of Chinese Americans. We are an essential part of American history and a valuable part of real America. 

八年前，在我即将踏上了赴美留学的旅程前，我妈特地又一次叮嘱我：“记住，到了美国后不要总是和中国人混在一起。你以后要多和美国人打交道，毕业后也要争取在都是美国人的地方工作。这样你才能真正走进美国的主流社会。”过去几年，我妈的这番话常常在我的脑海里盘旋。在美国的生活有过迷惘也有过困惑，但这八年多的人生经历让我在美国这片土地找到归属感的同时，也愈发发自内心的对自己的文化而感到自豪。

去年，为了声援AAPI社群抗议针对亚裔群体的恶性事件，我和在Polydott的伙伴们一起制作了一部叫《铠甲》的公益片，希望呼吁大家重视我们自己的文化。我们的文化即为我们的铠甲。在整个拍摄和制作的过程中，我第一次认真地阅读并了解了许多在美华人的历史与故事。这些故事，我知之甚少，甚至此前从未知晓，但因为这些故事，我建立了对于“美国人”的全新理解，并和历史上那一代代中国移民跌宕的故事产生了强烈共鸣。

于是，在公益短片上线后不久，团队的小伙伴便又合力一起制作研发了基于AAPI绘本的创新课程，讲述杰出美籍华人的事迹与成就，探索我们引以为傲的中华文化。

经过这一趟课程开发的体验，我很庆幸，尽管我曾遇到挫折与纠结，但我最终还是选择做我自己。我能批判性地去看待所谓的“主流文化”，并发自内心为自己的文化而感到自豪。作为一个教育从业者，我的愿景没有变。我依旧希望能够把绚丽多姿的中华文化介绍给美国，一起来感受文化的多样与美好。但与此同时，我也希望日后，我能同时讲述美籍华人们的文化与故事。我们的故事是美国历史的一部分，也是美国文化不可或缺的一部分。