The Story of The Misunderstood

It all started with my childhood. I was a child who looked forward to my daily routine; watching cartoons, having my best friends come over and play kitchen, and singing karaoke. My mom found it impressive when I learned how to read through karaoke. When I knew that I made her proud, I was eager to learn more. Therefore, every night before I slept, I prayed to go to school. Every morning, when my siblings would leave to school, I would try to find a sneaky way to go with them. I missed those days sometimes. I missed the simplicity. I was not expected to be anything, but myself. Not once did I care about my appearance. Not once did I ever bother about society’s view of me. Over time, I realize that being a teenage girl is difficult. I am expected to be what society wants me to be. If only I knew what I know now, I would live by Peter Pan’s word, and not want to grow up.
Now that I am a teenager, the top fears that my parents have are relationships and drugs. They tend to think that boys are irresponsible, untrustworthy, and troublesome. That causes parents to not allow their daughters to date. Boys are expected to be the reason to why girls rebel. My parents do not allow me to be involved in any relationships because I might rebel against them, like other girls that do. My parents are extra strict on me and I understand that. Since I am the youngest, I am expected to be easily influenced. Since I am a teenage girl, I am expected to be ‘brainwashed’ by guys. I felt insulted. I didn’t react, but I thought that it was the job of an adult to not allow children to do certain things as a hobby. I began to think that all adults sucked the fun out of everything. Over time, I started to see my parents deal with their own personal struggl...

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...nch a wall, or their faces which was even better in my mind. Just because I am Asian, it does not mean I get beaten by my parents. The mistake that society usually makes is that they judge and assume too quickly.

Looking through my personal experiences, I realize that society has different expectations and perspectives; all teenagers are rebellious, girls who dress in a certain way are attention seekers, and Asian always get beaten by their parents. All these experiences punched me in the face. It made me realize the cruelty of stereotypes and judgements of people which caused me to try to not do the same. Sadly, the devastating, heartbreaking reality is that there will always be critics and judges in society. I was not aware that these problems existed when I was a toddler. If only I knew what I know now, I would live by Peter Pan’s word, and not want to grow up.