High School Confidential

By Laya Rajan

They’re smart, they’re overachievers, and they’re bound to take over your school’s orchestra. That’s the general consensus of Asians. There is a wealth of stereotypes out there; everything from how strict the parents are, to how unathletic the children can be. From an Asian perspective, here’s the truth behind the veil.

Asians are smart. This is one of the most overused phrases when our generation thinks of Asia. This is the most irksome thing a person can hear. There’s no gene for intelligence. There are over two billion people on the Asian continent itself, not including the millions of people of Asian descent elsewhere. Every single one cannot be, and certainly is not, brilliant. We’re not any more intelligent than any other ethnic group.

The secret lies in our upbringing. In Asian countries, during our parents’ time, everything was radically different from the way it is here in America. No one lived in a commodious environment. My grandparents were in their 20s at the time of India’s independence. They worked hard, harder than anyone could imagine, supporting their families. My parents understood that to make a better life for themselves, they would have to search out every opportunity and exploit it to its fullest. The only way to do that was through education. The learning system in Asian countries is very different from here in America. While we are playing with blocks and taking naps, over in Asia, children are memorizing their multiplication tables up to 12. Education is a very strong priority in Asian households. Thus, the children work hard to attain academic excellence.

Asians are un-athletic nerds. This makes me laugh. While this may have been true several years ago, in today’s world, Asia is a strong contender in global sports. It’s not evident, because Americans don’t generally hear about the sports in which Asians excel. China especially is producing athletes that are the class of the field. At the last World Gymnastics Championships, China won both the men’s and women’s team competitions. The reigning men’s all-around champion is Chinese, and four out of the top six finishers in the all-around competition were Asian. While people don’t take pingpong seriously as an Olympic sport, Asian pingpong players train as hard as anyone else, and should in no way be considered a lesser achievement. They are considered some of the greatest players of all time, with incredibly impressive resumes. Contrary to what one might believe, athletes from China and India excel in weight lifting. In addition, in figure skating today, Chinese pairs and Japanese singles skaters are the athletes to beat in a sport traditionally ruled by Russia, Europe, and America.

“I got a 97. I am so dead.” Ah, yes: The myth of pushy parents. If someone were to ask me if my parents were pushy, my answer would have to be most emphatically no. Asian parents are not pushy; they’re just incredibly involved in what their kids do. While it is true that anything below an A is considered an abysmal grade by Asian standards, the ideology is not, “either get a 100 or we disown you,” or “until every subject is perfect, you will sit in your room and do nothing but study.” It’s more like, “Get a good grade in everything, or else you’ll have to work harder.”

When I hear people saying that they get MySpace and post pictures on the Web without their parents’ knowledge, or throw parties and go out with their friends behind their parents’ backs, I am truly astounded. It’s unimaginable for me not to tell my parents what I’m doing and what grades I get on every single test, not because my parents would kill me if I didn’t, but because that’s the way I’ve been raised.

I have a laundry list of activities that I’ve been pursuing since a very young age. I’ve also tried just about everything under the sun. Dance, check. Singing, check. Instruments of all descriptions, yup. Gymnastics, swimming, ice skating, horseback riding. You name it, I’ve done it. And why did my parents put a slightly ungainly 5-year old into so many activities? Don’t be fooled. My parents didn’t have any visions of me being the next Yo-yo Ma or Nadia Comaneci. They just wanted me to have every possible opportunity. Every parent wants to ensure their child succeeds, with whatever their definition of success is.

This mentality is exemplified in all immigrant groups, not just Asians. My parents’ generation came to this country with very little, and worked their way up to be able to live the way they dreamed of. They wanted us to start off on a better plane of life than they did, reaching higher. For Asians, the only surefire way they know is education. To this end, every piece of homework has to be done with a sharpened pencil, every line measured, and penmanship exquisite. But there is no “you failed” mentality when something goes wrong, rather a “what did we do wrong together” question. Our parents just want the very best for us. They want to see what we can accomplish that they weren’t able to.

I love my iPod. I love to dance. I can’t wait for the next episode of “The Amazing Race.” I’m just another teenager, but I come with a tag that reads: Asian-American Overachiever. A-plus or bust. The tag is acquired so easily, and it sticks even more easily.

Living up to that label, however, is a different story. But the way I’ve grown up has taught me valuable life lessons. I’ve been taught to dream deep and reach high, because nothing is impossible. You can achieve anything if you want it badly enough, because if it wasn’t possible, you wouldn’t want it so badly.

With a book in hand and violin strapped to my back, I am making my journey towards success. And you know what? I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Laya Rajan is a senior at Yorktown High School and the opinion editor of its student newspaper, The Voice.

By Jordan Teicher

	Jordan Teicher

In 1992, a slew of popular celebrities, including Madonna, Donny Osmond, and members of the Ramones, encouraged eligible youths to “Rock the Vote.” In 2004, the voting-advocacy effort continued under the pretense of dumbfounding logic – the threat of imminent death – in rapper P. Diddy’s “Vote or Die” campaign.

Now, in 2008, most graduating high school seniors are members of that key 18- to 24-year-old voting demographic and they, too, have come under the radar of today’s celebrity activists. The question this time, however, is not “should we vote?” but rather, “for whom should we vote?”

As early as May 2007, talk show host and super-celebrity, Oprah Winfrey, set a precedent for the upcoming election by making her political convictions known, throwing her support behind Senator Barack Obama in an interview on “Larry King Live.” From there, the trend of celebrity endorsements of political candidates exploded, and we soon witnessed the emergence of Chuck Norris, Robert DeNiro, the Black Eyed Peas, George Clooney, Whoopi Goldberg, and the like in campaign headlines.

As part of a 10-question interview with Natalie Portman in Time magazine’s March 10 issue, a subscriber-submitted letter inquired if the actress would ever consider running for office. For sensible readers who may remember Portman best as an alien queen sporting a gigantic hairdo in the “Star Wars” films, this question should give pause for thought. Granted, Portman is a smart girl – a graduate from Harvard University with a bachelor’s degree in psychology, and a talented actress who has landed some important roles. Nonetheless, we should still be asking ourselves, “Do these career attributes qualify her to pursue a career in politics?” Just because Portman is a public figure, should she be in a position to influence public affairs? Frankly, asking a movie star about politics seems about as logical as asking a mechanic for a medical consultation.

The fact that Time magazine even considered publishing that reader’s question illustrates the utter confusion of today’s news audience – the extent to which the conflicting interests of want and need have blended such that the media now needs to satisfy the public’s every whim and its desire to hear reports on both Britney Spears and the war in Iraq in the same two-hour time block.

In a political environment in which an endorsement from Oprah can carry as much weight as one from a powerful senator, in which Al Gore can appear on MTV without much to-do, and Barack Obama can take home a Grammy, it is no wonder that the political arena is so befuddled. Today, politicians are celebrities, and celebrities are politicians. The juices on the proverbial dinner plate are mixing together, and it is because we haven’t been able to create proper barriers.

The consequences of this situation vary, from the good – celebrity-politician Arnold Schwarzenegger, who shocked critics nationwide with his commendable performance as California’s leading executive – to the bad – celebrity-political activist Rosie O’Donnell, boisterous former-host of “The View,” whose views, arguably should never have left her mouth, no less been broadcast to the general public.

A truth that seems to have escaped our star-struck proponents of celebrity endorsements is that some of these political activists who are treated with such reverence – Paris Hilton and 50 Cent for instance – are not nearly as active as they are political. Both “Vote or Die” figureheads, whose public support of the organization may have been responsible for sending thousands of young voters to voting booths, were notably absent when the time came to cast their own votes. Mr. 50 Cent could not vote because he is a former convict, while the infamous Hilton heiress did not because, well, she’s Paris Hilton.

It turns out that hypocrisy is another thing that celebrities and politicians have in common.

And that’s just the point. Our stars may have strong political convictions, and they may, sometimes, be intelligent individuals in their own right, but in the end, they are merely performers. Their reasons for supporting a particular candidate can be just as shallow as anyone else’s. Just because they have a platform for their opinions does not necessarily mean they are better informed.

Ultimately, pride for one’s country, the desire to exercise one’s constitutional right to vote, or concern for one’s future in the United States of America should be enough motivation for citizens to cast their ballots. But, if the sole factor in deciding to participate in the election process is that P. Diddy, Justin Timberlake, Scarlett Johansson, or Oprah said to, then so be it.

For the sake of politics, and the sovereignty of the American voter, however, their power should stop at that. Celebrities have all the show business credibility to help “rock the vote,” but they have no business governing it.

By Leigh Garcia

	Leigh Garcia is a junior at Hendrick Hudson High School.

Many people view teenagers as ignorant and close-minded towards the rest of the world. With the 2008 presidential election approaching and politics invading our lives from all angles, I can’t help but agree.

I am shocked and appalled at the amount of high school students who are in the dark when it comes to politics and world issues. They can tell you who was voted off “American Idol” and what happened on “Lost”or in the sports world, but they can’t tell you who won the Wyoming primary or what happened this week in the White House. I don’t think that all teenagers should know everything about politics, but when they don’t know the difference between Democrat and Republican or liberal and conservative, I worry about the future of this country.

We are the ones who are going to run the country in a few decades. We are the future senators, governors, cabinet members, presidents. We are the future of this nation, and I really fret at that thought when I find more and more people my age who don’t have a clue about the world.

Granted, things do change and one day my generation will wake up and realize that politics – even though anyone born after today’s date in 1990 can’t vote – affect everyone. I also recognize that there are high school students who love politics and are even more informed than I am, but that’s a small minority (or just the debate team). I am not the ignorant teenager who finds politics boring. I think it’s absolutely fascinating! It disappoints me that I am unable to speak about it with my peers.

It is so frustrating that not enough teenagers care about or are aware of politics. With so much technology in our lives, I feel like it’s inevitable that we become aware of what’s happening in our nation and world. Political information blares at me from my home page every time I sign on the Internet (and just reading headlines gives information!). It’s all over my Facebook news feed via polls and debate coverage, and is all over the radio and TV. Unless you live under a rock (which I guess the majority of my classmates do), there is no excuse for not being politically aware.

Another issue I am frustrated about with teenagers and politics is that so many teens “support” a politician and don’t know why. They do so based on race, gender, age, or how expensive their haircut is, not the major issues of each candidate. That frightens me. If young people are going to vote, will they really make the best choice for our nation? Or will they pick the candidate who looks best on the cover of a magazine?

What are worse than that are the remarks I hear and the looks I receive when I say that I am a Republican. I am met with a glare and, “So you like Bush?” How ignorant can they be!?One man does not serve as the basis of an entire party. Oh, wait, that’s right. They actually don’t know the difference between the parties.

What has this country come to?

I am fed up with the “It doesn’t affect me” attitude. I am tired of hearing, “I can’t vote yet – why does it matter?” I loath to hear, “Politics is only for adults.” Politics affects everyone, no matter the age. We teenagers are going to be running the country soon. At what point will politics go from “boring” and “useless” to “fascinating” and “essential?”

I myself do not know, but I hope it’s soon. The fate of the country rests on our shoulders.