“Nevertheless, She Persisted” — and Finished a Ph.D. at Oxford University
Fighting racism and ageism honey badger style
Honey badger don’t care…honey badger don’t give a shit.*
It is a truth universally acknowledged that when you grow up as a late Boomer, Asian-American daughter of tiger parents, you are primed from the get-go to be the best and brightest. And under the narrowest of conditions, too.
That is to 1) attend an Ivy, preferably what is deemed an “upper Ivy” (Princeton, Harvard, Yale), and 2) become a doctor, engineer, or lawyer.
Truth be told, the third option wasn’t even truly available when I was growing up since the sciences were regarded as the be-all and end-all of all possible careers during the 1970s. Yes, that was Asian parent pride and prejudice at work!
And so, that’s how my sights were set just then — when I still wanted to please my parents.
But alas, it didn’t happen — starting with the schools. Although I wasn’t terribly disappointed at my rejections from Princeton and Harvard (didn’t apply to Yale) and had my sights set on Smith after receiving long, friendly phone calls from students there, a part of me still felt…well, stung.
