Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month: Students’ Stories

After training nearly all her life for a single performance, senior Arya Tadepalli will take the stage in a traditional dance that is a part of her South Asian heritage.  “One thing I’ve been doing since I was three is called Bharatanatyam, it’s a form of Indian classical dancing,” Tadepalli said.  The history of the art dates back to the first kiloannum CE, it contains a series of dances that incorp...

Adoption is one of the many ways families are brought together from all over the world. Junior Carleigh Leavitt was adopted from Kazakhstan, located right below Russia in Central Asia. “I was adopted when I think I was eight or nine months old, so I was really young. My mom brought me home, and I’ve lived in Loudoun County pretty much my whole life,” Leavitt said. Leavitt and her three s...

Quality time with her entire family has always been a large part of  senior Gurleen Bhathal’s life. “We spend a lot of time together—not just my immediate family, but my extended family and my extended-family’s family,” Bhathal said. “I feel like that’s just the biggest thing, staying hyper-connected with everyone and everyone else’s family.”  Bhathal agrees that there has...

Stereotypes have followed sophomore Emmaline Fontanilla in almost every aspect of her life, from school to her leisure time. “There’s always been the stereotype for Asians to be smart, and I kind of fall into that,” Fontanilla said. “I’ve always been perceived as smart, so it’s hard for me to be like, ‘No, you can’t think that.’ But I know this one person who was like, ‘Are you the...

Sophomore Aileen Santikarma goes back to visit Bali, Indonesia, every year. However, because of Covid-19, she’s been unable to.  “A lot of people in my family have died during this time,” Santikarma said. “And probably funerals are the biggest tradition that we have. So that's been a lot different because we can't really partake in those.” Covid-19 prompted the dilute of tourism in Ba...

Sophomore Sage Lin believes there are educational stereotypes put on the Asian community. “One stereotype I'd probably like to get rid of would be we're known to be higher academically,” Lin said. Lin finds that the labels of “intelligence” and being the model minority plastered on the Asian-American community is harmful when it comes to applying to college. Affirmative action is a s...

In the past year, the closing of small local Asian-American businesses has left senior Faith Nguyen unsettled. Many of which she would visit prior to the pandemic.   “Living in a land where the dominant culture isn’t matched to your culture, it’s really important to be able to connect with that through food or whatever else,” Nguyen said. “So seeing those kinds of places go away is de...