Here we are again. Allow me to introduce you to our latest Angry Reader of the Week, spotlighting you, the very special readers of this website. Over the years, I've been able to connect with a lot of cool folks, and this is a way of showing some appreciation and attention to the people who help make this blog what it is. This week's Angry Reader is Derrick Fung.
Who are you?
My name is Derrick Fung. I am a New Yorker trying to survive college in Boston! And I'm proud brother of Pi Delta Psi here at Northeastern University. I am one of the three manifestations of my parent's blood, sweat and tears and I'm the oldest child so it's up to me to pave the way for my younger siblings.
What are you?
A true NYC ABC (American born Chinese). My mom's from Toi San, China and my dad's from Enping, China. I am 100% Chinese, despite what I may look like! Born and raised in New York, I'm also 100% American. Best of worlds!
Where are you?
I am home, in my apartment in Boston, MA. I'm here for school, GO HUSKIES!, but New York is where my heart's at.
Where are you from?
I grew up in Brooklyn, NY, half the time in the ghetto and the other half in an average middle to lower class neighborhood (at the time). Living in Coney Island (the ghetto part) wasn't all bad, my parents tried to pull me away from there as much as possible. And the other half of my time I was in Bay Ridge, a pretty decent neighborhood that has really grown in the past eight years since I've moved away from there. In 7th grade, I moved to Dyker Heights, a mainly Italian neighborhood that fell under the "Asian Invasion" (as with many Brooklyn neighborhoods at the time as many of the middle class Asians began to get more wealthy and purchase more property in better neighborhoods). And now, I'm in Bawston and it was tough transitioning from a large city to a much smaller one, but it has grown on me. Except the Red Sox and the Pats, they will never grow on me.
What do you do?
There's a variety of things I'm involved with. Freshman year, I had the honor to join Pi Delta Psi Fraternity, where I've found some of my life long brothers. With PDPsi, I'm involved in a variety of things including on-campus councils as well as a variety of cultural-related events and minority empowerment conferences. Over my few short years with my brothers here, I've attended/hosted a variety of smaller scale cultural events. I've also had the pleasure with working with some of my other brothers to help bring Just Kidding Films onto campus. I've also performed in Open Mic events as well as brought Boston Poet, Giles Li to campus too as a main act for our event. Now, as External Vice President (shooting for that Presidency soon!) I hope to do even more for the fraternity and really broaden everyone's horizions. With my brothers here, we've done so much and gone so far, all over the east coast too (west coast here we come!).
Aside from just fraternity stuff, I'm also involved with some other on campus orgs, more importantly Husky Ambassadors! HA is the an organization from the school's visitor center that hosts all the campus tours for all incoming and prospective students. Spring 2012 is when I joined and it was one of the best decisions I've made here at Northeastern (along with joining PDPsi). I've learned so much about the school and develop my person every time I give a tour. It has become an extremely enriching experience, especially when you can see the change in the faces of those you convince to come to Northeastern. HA is a great group of people that have helped me grow in so many ways.
Aside from just campus activities, I am blessed to have the opportunity to go on co-op at Northeastern. Being in Finance/Marketing, experience is extremely important and this past Fall, I finished my 6 month co-op with an investment management firm. There, I got my first taste of the corporate world and it really helped me reconfirm my choice in selecting Business, Finance and Northeastern. There, I developed so much on the professional side as well as learned so much about the field. Still having at least one more co-op ahead of me, I really can't wait to see what other sides of Finance I can get involved with.
What are you all about?
I'm about many things. There are many important things in my life, but the top ranking ones are Family, Academics/Career, and my friends. My family is my backbone and base to everything I've ever accomplished in life. I'm not just talking about my blood family, my mom, my dad, they support me in every way possible and my brother and sister. I'm talking about those that have become my family to, the brothers I've met through the fraternity and my best friends from back home that have grown to become my family. They are the absolute most important thing in my life because without them, I would've never made it to become the person I am today. Academics/Career is very important because every since I could remember, I would see my parents working 7-10 everyday just to be able to put me and my siblings through Piano, Art, Tutoring, especially tutoring. Only after my SATs were over did I ever stop going to tutoring. Seeing all the work my parents put in, it would be a damn shame if I didn't put in same or more effort into my academics and my career. My friends, like my family, have helped shape me in some way or another as I've gone through life. These are the three most important values in my life.
However, aside from these, I am passionate about other things too, one of which is empowerment to minorities and the underprivileged. I am grateful for all that my parents have given me and all that they've had to work to help improve our living conditions ever so much. One thing they taught me was that nothing in life was free. Everything has a cost and if you don't put in the effort to get it, it's not yours to take. To me, this translates to empowerment because that's the way I live through life and I believe that those who don't have much should always try to improve, rather then settle. Just because that's the way it is now doesn't mean that's the way it should be. Especially with minorities and the underprivileged, they need to stand up and try to make a difference. Even if there is a small chance of success, a small chance is better than no chance.
What makes you angry?
Wet socks and a dirty bed. Seriously, I hate getting my feet wet with socks (and shoes) on and I hate getting my bed dirty (always shower before I sleep), but definitely wet socks more than anything. But aside from that, I'm a pretty amiable person. Nothing really makes me angry except when the weak are being abused. Growing up, I was a small kid, and now I'm still a small adult. I hate bullies (and I'm not speaking of those that mess around with you and are friendly with you - but will step back if they really know they stepped over the line). I'm talking about the bullies that exert dominance because they feel that they can, or just want to look good in front of others. I especially dislike those that GO OUT OF THEIR WAY just to mess with someone, especially if they weren't bothering them. Cause it's like seriously, he wasn't even in your way! But yeah, you know, most of the time, I'm pretty calm.