Like many, nori was one of my favorite snacks. I remember being obsessed with it to the point my parents restricted my daily servings. My grandparents, who I still spend lots of time with, introduced me to it. They grew up in Japanese occupied Taiwan so they brought a mix of Taiwanese, Chinese, and Japanese influences. Nori is significant to me because it reminds me of my childhood and is still something I enjoy today, just not in extreme amounts. However, the reason I am writing is much deeper. When I was in first grade, my teacher was curious about my little green snack and wanted to try it. This was the first time in my life that I realized my identity as an Asian American and the first time I shared my culture. My relationship with my identity would be a process 20 years in the making to get to where I am at now. At the time that I am writing this, I am a rising junior at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. My home town is Los Angeles, California and I am currently serving on the National Board for the East Coast Asian American Student Union among other things. This means I work with college students all around the country to promote the Asian American identity and build stronger communities. Looking back, it’s amazing how I was destined to go from sharing seaweed with my teacher to aspiring to be on the forefront of change in the Asian American community. Maybe I could get more sleep if I wasn’t this involved, but visions of a better future keep me up at night. 
 

– Ethan Yang

Relationship:  Child of im/migrant Child of im/migrant