As I enter my senior year, I’ve been reflecting on the people and experiences that have made my time here so special. While my study away program and internships have influenced my academic and career goals, my involvement in multicultural organizations on campus shaped my Asian American identity and helped me find my footing at NYU.
Growing up, I lived in a small city in Michigan. While it was a relatively diverse area of the state, I felt suffocated by the predominantly white culture of the Midwest. My only connection to my heritage was weekly Chinese-language school lessons and a group of family friends who I was never really close with.
In middle school, I agreed to move abroad with my parents to Hangzhou, China, where I was eager to attend international school and broaden my horizons. I got more in touch with my culture and got much closer to my extended family. However, I started to realize that my Asian American upbringing had more of an effect on me than I had thought. I didn’t fully fit in with the domestic Chinese students, nor did I feel completely comfortable with the other, predominantly white, international students. Although living in China meant becoming closer in contact with my culture, the international school left me feeling isolated.
I spent my college search finding schools with diverse student bodies in metropolitan locations in an effort to find the cultural community I had been missing in my adolescence — bringing me to NYU.
Like most first-years, I was incredibly scared and confused going into my first semester. Though I was very unsure of some things, such as my major, how to use OMNY and whether I was even prepared to live on my own, I was sure of one thing: joining an Asian interest club.
While NYU has a plethora of multicultural organizations, I connected most deeply with the Asian Cultural Union, a club for Asian students of different ethnic backgrounds. The club aims to celebrate and unite the university’s Asian community, and hosts a few events with games, prizes and food to kick off the semester.
I blindly applied and joined the executive board in my first semester, unaware of what was in store for me. Getting professional opportunities through alumni referrals and taking trips together across the country gifted me with countless memories and stories. Today, as one of the club’s co-presidents, I can confidently say that it was one of the best decisions I made in college.
Not only have I developed leadership skills through overseeing subcommittees and grown more connected to my heritage, but I’ve also managed to find a real home at this school.
As I was saying goodbye after the last ACU event of the fall semester in 2022, I began to cry. At that moment, I realized how fortunate I was to finally have a group of people who understand and accept me for who I am.
Interacting with people from similar backgrounds has helped me find peace with my Asian American identity. Our similarities are just as important as our differences — whether you’re an international student from Indonesia, the only Asian person from your Midwestern high school or one of many Asians from the Bay Area, you have a place in the Asian community at NYU.
From long nights studying in Bobst Library after meetings to lugging boxes of decorations around the Kimmel Center for University Life, I will always have fond memories of ACU and the vibrant multicultural organizations that have helped me and countless others find their place on campus.
Contact Grace Tan at [email protected].
