Asian American Studies 197B
Spring Quarter 2002

Reflection Journal 1
Julie Yoshioka, "Learning More Outside the Classroom Than Within"

I think I have half-formulated UCLA-centric viewpoint. I was definitely raised with one. It was instilled in me at an early age that I had to grow up and be a successful professional without any room for mistakes. I never had a job in high school, because that was considered a "distraction from schoolwork" — taboo in my family. When I got my first job in college, my parents actually got mad at me. My father said that it would hurt my "studies" and that I should spend my extra time studying. My friends were the same; we all studied hard, delayed gratification, and dreamed of futures as doctors and lawyers. Our parents expected us to go to college and graduate with promising futures. That's why they paid for our extra math tutoring and SAT classes. When I started working more, I also followed that pattern that many college students follow, landing internships in the fields that I was interested in entering career-wise.

But, if there's one thing that I have learned in college, it's that you learn much more outside of the classroom than within. I think I've definitely altered my mentality at approaching my future involvement. Community has become a huge part of my future. After taking Asian-American courses and working with underprivileged youth, I know that I want to do this career-wise. So I suppose, it would be somewhat easier for me to shift from the UCLA-centric student thinking to community-centered thinking since that is what I want to eventually pursue. It's an ironic answer to the question, because I'm pursuing my career and serving the community at the same time. I think my world outlook is constantly changing through my experiences with different organizations and community groups. I think the main step I could take to be of greater service to communities, is to deeply understand the specific community. That way it would be easier for me to really understand what they need and best help them. I think it is much more effective to specifically tailor one's own services to best meet the needs of the group.

In terms of dealing with "big heads," I definitely agree. I think a lot of people forget where they're coming from compared to the population that they're working with. It makes sense, that those community members who have had experience with such students would be somewhat hesitant to work with them based on past experiences. I would try to get past this problem by being genuinely committed to the project: to show the community that we're not there to preach to them or completely change what they have worked hard to achieve. I think the best way to prove oneself is to work by example. I think that over time, the community members would be better able to understand our intentions. If it is a serious problem, evident from the very beginning, then I would try sitting down with a few of the members of the group and discussing exactly how they felt. By establishing a level of equal understanding and input, both groups would be at parity with each other and hopefully be able to better cooperate.

As a UCLA student, I think I could help support the struggles of low-income immigrant workers by providing an outside voice for their concerns to be heard. I think a large part of evoking change is through communication and knowledge; so by sharing this information with others, the support group can grow. I am especially interested in writing, so I think that I could hopefully do something in media to the issue more public. I was a writer on the Daily Bruin and currently write for Pacific Ties magazine on campus. I often write articles on issues that I've been concerned with; more specifically, I just wrote an article on domestic violence in the Asian-American community. I'm also very vocal and communicate well with people. I think just being able to simply talk to the members of the community and relate to them is an important first step in creating a relationship with them. From there, trust can be built and that is an extremely important foundation.