April 16, 2026
By Olivia Bautista
Staff Writer
I have always been proud of my culture. At my previous school, Sacred Heart in Lyndhurst, being in a community with only two other Asian students in my grade made me feel special.
I would relish the sour taste of sinigang, a popular Filipino soup, and hum “Mabagal” by Daniel Padilla and Moira Dela Torre. I’d imagine myself in the lyrics, slow dancing as the song describes.
I would talk about being Filipino so often that my friends would laugh at me for it, but I didn’t care. I just kept going and tried to teach them Tagalog.
As the years progressed, I became quieter about my culture. Although I still talk about it a lot, people’s stereotypical comments have weighed on me.
As a 10-year-old, I was ashamed of my identity for the first time.
During elementary and middle school, my parents enrolled me in Kumon, a self-learning program, because I struggled with math early on in my education. I disliked the daily assignments, but deep down I knew it was helping me.
One day in fourth grade, my class had a substitute teacher who didn’t know how to explain multiplication with double-digit numbers, so I volunteered to go up to the chalkboard and teach the class. Everyone was surprised that I already knew how to do this.
This prompted one of my classmates, who was among my closest friends at the time, to yell out, “She only knows how to do this because she’s in Kumon.”
No one knew what that was, so she described it as “a place where Asian people go to learn.”
Her comment hurt my feelings because she was suggesting I was different from others. Although I was enrolled in Kumon, it is for everyone who needs it.
At that moment, I stopped writing and hesitantly sat back down. As a 10-year-old, I was ashamed of my identity for the first time.
After the incident, not a week went by that I didn’t beg my parents to withdraw me from Kumon, though they didn’t know why I was so upset.
Now, when people ask me a question or make a comment, I sometimes get defensive. For instance, as a child, if someone asked me if I played piano, I would say “yes” and offer to teach them. If someone asked me the same question today, I would probably get annoyed because I would think they were making an assumption about my interests based on my race.
Even though I get annoyed, I try not to show it. I’ve learned to deal with ignorant stereotypes so I can fully embrace my Filipino culture. Whether it be Filipino clothing, music or recipes, there is so much to love about my heritage.
