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"Asians Can't Drive"

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Hi. My name is Melissa--in school, outside of school, and on social media. Technically, it's only an alias--the name printed on my birth certificate is Chau which means "pearl" in Vietnamese. It's not French, nor is it pronounced like Ciao (when my peers say, "Ciao, Chau" and the two RHYME, oh boy). And it's definitely not Ling-ling or Ching-Chong;  it's so  irritating when someone says, "Yo, what's up, Ching-Chong?" I'm obviously going to take offense, even if it was only meant as a joke. My name has always been a touchy subject for me; among Jacks and Emilys, Chau sticks out a lot. When teachers do attendance for the first time, I always sigh a little when they hesitate on my name. Over the years, I've gotten used to it and have been able to anticipate their hesitation, saying "here" in time to save them and  me the embarrassment. A teacher once called for a "Mr. Nong"--needless to say, it took

a poem for mom:

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happy mother's day to all the moms out there ___ you - shaking worlds you move me. like six years old: when my best friends and I raced each other down the empty roads, played hide and seek in the dark, and rode our bikes til our legs gave out and then some more, youth - the pinnacle of it, my favorite memories were then. you move me like a burning fire in a kingdom of rock and ice you, my candle in the night - a soft, protecting warmth you move me your confidence, strength, understanding, your faith you inspire me you stirred into life my desires and aspirations and guided me away from the path of least resistance and threw me to myself and told me to stay me because you knew all i wanted to do was to be unlike me and be like you fearless and unwavering, can i be like that, too - maybe? you move me like nine years old when i met my grandmother for the very first time and felt the age in her hands and saw the stars in her hair

The Most Important Things

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"In life, never forget these important things: One, that home is not a place, but a feeling. Two, that time is not measured by a clock, but by moments. And three, that heartbeats are not heard, but felt and shared." - Unknown  "School is important." "You have to go to college." "You need a job that makes money." These "ideals" have been with me since I first started thinking about what I wanted to do in my future. I understand; money is a necessity for a comfortable life. An ugly kind of necessity, but a necessity nonetheless. And certain things are needed to obtain that necessity. Of course, I haven't exactly decided on a permanent career path ever since those "ideals" started to obstruct my view. For now, I have decided to leave those things in the future for the future. I'd like to enjoy what is left of my childhood which is slowly coming to an end. My last year of middle school is soon to be

Surpassing Weaknesses

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I am happy with who I am.  That's the truth. I'm confident in my abilities, and I like who I am as a person. I'm not perfect or anything; actually, in comparison with the rest of the world, I am extremely mundane and average. I don't really have any distinctive characteristics that make me shine brighter than the rest of the world. I'm your average, flawed human with big dreams for the future. To begin, I'm a coward. This statement is totally contradictory with my previous words of being confident, but it's completely different than what I was talking about then. See, I'm utterly afraid of humiliation. Even the fear itself is shameful. Losing, failure, mistakes, etc., I avoid those with all costs. But I mean, nobody likes to lose. Nobody likes to be jeered. I'm trying to change; I want to be unafraid of making mistakes. I want to because to make mistakes is to grow. Also, I'm pretty arrogant and domineering. I guess this would be the pa

Engraved in Slate

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"New Years is a time for new beginnings.  Now if I could just figure out where to start." - Melanie White 2016 feels like a good year. But then again, I say that about every year in hopes that luck will choose to shine on me. - posted exactly at 12:00 AM - 01/01/16. The mark of a new year. A new beginning. - I don't believe in a clean slate. "Having a clean slate" exists only literally having a slate that is clean - or at birth (well if you want  to count your time in the womb, that too). Every single day, the things you do go on that figurative slate - it's not just scribbled on, it's engraved. And no matter what you do, you can't start over. You can't erase. It's not a game - Life. There is no restart button, no pause or resume. And whatever is on that slate of yours will stay - Forever. But is that necessarily a bad thing? At the beginning of each year, your slate gets built on. All that stuff etched on your slat