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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I'm a first generation Taiwanese-American who never spoke English in the home. I was a toddler when we came and my brother was born soon after our arrival. By American standards, my parents earned lower middle class incomes and never lost their accents. Our finances were tight enough that my brother and I earned/paid the entire family contributions for our college financial aid packages. But, our parents  attended the top college in Taiwan where they studied social sciences. We didn't own very many books but we went to the public library as often as the grocery store. Our family vacations were road trips and we only stayed at crappy roadside motels, but we visited almost every state in the lower 48. They invited nearly everyone they met to dinner at our little house from my elementary school custodian to my college advisor and hundreds of random strangers and that taught us to treat every guest with the same high respect and appreciation. My parents never pushed us towards STEM or any particular occupation or to make money because they believed we should do what excited us. When I got into skateboarding, my dad snuck into an empty pool to see my tricks. And my mom would listen to my brother's favorite albums just to learn about what he liked. Grades didn't matter nearly as much as our intellectual curiosity, kindness, character and social well-being. I doubt that they'd have been wealthier back in Taiwan but they certainly would have had higher social status. We received little in the way of material advantages, but they cultivated an openness to new experiences and ideas and an appreciation for the great diversity of America. I think those attitudes from our upbringing were instrumental in our academic and career success. My sibling and I are trying to give our kids the kind of upbringing we had and we have wondered whether the advantages we have now makes it harder.   [/quote][/quote]

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