Photo: Bo Wang
Good people of the internet! It is my pleasure to introduce you to the 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 Evelyn Cheng.
Who are you?
I'm a senior at NYU studying journalism and urban design, with a minor in business studies. I'm also the editor-in-chief of my school's Asian American publication: Generasian. (Check us out on Tumblr!)
Off-campus, I'm an intern at CNBC.com.
What are you?
In three words: Asian American Christian.
The more complicated version: My great-grandmother was born in America, making me a fourth generation Asian American (or 3.5 - read my article).
Figuring out what I am has been a long journey that I've been able to solidify through writing about it in Generasian.
I've gone from celebrating my Americanness as a 10-year-old to championing my Asian side as a teenager. Finally, after two extended stays in China I've realized that I can take pride in being a mixture of both. I'm Asian American.
Where are you?
In the food heaven of St. Mark's Place in downtown New York City.
Where are you from?
Not too far away from where I am now: New Hyde Park, NY.
If you wanted to ask the "where I am from" question that most people want to know, my dad's Taiwanese and my mom is Cantonese, although she was also born in the United States.
What do you do?
I'm finishing my last semester at NYU and want to become a journalist. My dream job is being a foreign correspondent in Asia. On the macro level, I believe trying to represent Asian Americans accurately in the media begins with better reporting on Asia. For those aspiring reporters out there, I would highly recommend joining the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA), where you'll meet amazing, inspiring people like Jeff Yang and Phil Yu.
What are you all about?
Hard work. Friendships. Pursuing your own dreams and being confident in yourself for who you are. Discovering something new about the world every day.
What makes you angry?
Assumptions that you're right without listening carefully to others. Learning the backstory to an issue will show you that, Asian or not, we are all human and have the same needs. Try to understand Asia before writing about it. Try to understand why people are the way they are before making conclusions.
Increased textual communication has also often pushed us to envelop what we really think in flowery sentences and online chatter about nothing in particular, i.e. BuzzFeed.
Wasting time -- because there's so much that needs to be done!
