Source Link : http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_6759701

Traveling exhibit showcases `Growing up Asian' heroes
By Lydia Sarraille

In the eyes of 14-year-old Rowena Kuang, her older sister, Lucia, is the greatest hero in the world. Rowena's admiration for her sister doesn't stem from any single extraordinary feat, but rather from the small, daily sacrifices Lucia has made without complaint while growing up as an Asian immigrant in the Bay Area.

When she was a baby, Lucia's parents sent her back to China from San Francisco because they couldn't afford to take care of her in the United States, a place to which they immigrated for the good of their family.
Rowena says Lucia eventually came back to help their mother take in laundry in San Francisco when she was 5. Even after a long day of work, Lucia would carry Rowena without complaining.

"(Lucia) was the first person in our family to go to a college in America, and so she has become a role model to all of us and paved the way for me and my cousins to go to college," Rowena says. "My sister means the world to me."

Rowena's story is among those on display at the Almaden Branch Library during the month of September as part of the "Growing Up Asian in America" art exhibit that has been rotating among libraries throughout the Bay Area since the start of this year.

Sponsored by the Asian Pacific Fund, the annual exhibit provides Bay Area children of Asian descent the opportunity to share their stories through poetry, art and essays. "Growing up Asian in America" is the largest program in the nation celebrating Asian heritage.

The competition begins in January with an annual essay and art competition for students in grades K-12. Typically, more than 1,000 Bay Area students compete each year. Only 75 are chosen as finalists. This year's exhibit includes the work of several Almaden Valley youth.

The exhibit emphasizes heroes who have helped shape the participants' lives. Winning entries include the story of a blind artist, a dying father and the bravery of a single parent taking a chance in a new country.
Benita Tsao, project coordinator for the Asian Pacific Fund, said what ties all of the contestants together is their Asian heritage. Whatever their nationality, they are the children and grandchildren of immigrants, and some may have been born overseas themselves, she said.
Tsao said part of the criteria for how students are judged in the competition includes how well they relate the theme to their own experience.

"We want to see what they are going through in their lives," Tsao said.
For Leland High School freshman Yeji Lee, her grandmother's strength as the first in her family to immigrate to San Jose from Korea and later as a survivor of breast cancer has unquestionably made her a hero.

Yeji said her grandmother's determination in coming to the United States and her bravery in battling cancer have shaped her family's life. She takes chances and fights for what she wants.

"I was really glad when she was OK, and I think she was brave," Yeji said. Yeji won third place for the illustration she drew of her grandmother that is included in the exhibit.

Sanjana Parikh's Indian heritage, rather than her family, is what inspired her essay entry. The 14-year-old compares the Hindu gods to classic American superheroes and explores the ways in which they are the same.
Sanjana says superheroes and gods give people something to aspire to, but that the reality of life can make people cynical so most people stop believing in the ideal.

What people must do, Sanjana says, is find their "own inner superheroes."
A lifelong Almaden resident whose parents came to the United States from India to study and work, Sanjana says growing up with two different cultures has made her realize that neither one is more "right" than the other.

"Both Indian and Western culture have good parts," Sanjana said. "I like how innovative we are in the West, but traditional Indian values are really important to me too." Her essay won third place.

Eunbee Jang, 13, says all immigrants are heroes. Leaving one's home, friends and culture in search of a better life in an unknown environment is one of the bravest actions someone can take, says Eunbee, who won honorable mention for her drawing of immigrants coming to America.
"It's brave to come to a new country," Eunbee says. "If it wasn't for immigration, none of us would be here."

Eunbee was born in Korea and moved to American with her parents when she was 7. Being misidentified as Chinese and other nationalities by her classmates is among the challenges Eunbee has faced over the years.
"When I told them about being Korean, they thought it was cool," she says.

Winning entries from the "Growing Up Asian in America" contest will be displayed at the Almaden Branch Library Sept. 1-30 and will be put into a commemorative book. Work can also be seen by visiting

www.asianpacificfund.org.