1. How has the pandemic challenged the recruitment and internship experience for college students?
2. How are Asian Americans represented in modern-day movies and shows?
3. What are the benefits of knowing a second language in the work culture today?

Above is the link to the trailer of the Netflix show, Squid Games. I love this show so much and you know I do when I watched the whole season in one night, and also had class the next morning. It is so so good! I recommend this show because it is just so different and so addicting to watch. In the show, there are 5 main characters, Gi Hun, Sang Woo, Il-nam, Sae- Byeok, and Ali. and they all live a life in debt, for their own very reasons. They are asked to participate in a game and given a business card with the phone number to call when they are ready to play in it. Since they don’t have money, they are feening for any chance to get money. In this game, they are taken to a island away from the city where no body can find them. There are 456 players in this game and every player has a number on their tracksuit that is used to identify them. In the game, they do not use their real names rather “Player Number ___”. The instructors at the game site do not show their faces either, very mysterious, they have masks and uniforms on so even the players don’t know who is in charge of the whole game. All the players are brought here because they all are in debt and need money. The instructors of the game give them the instructions that there are 6 games in total and the ones who cannot complete the game under a timer will be eliminated. Nah, the word eliminated was not just that they sit out until the next game or they go back home. They get shot by a gun and die. So, really there will only be a few winners at the end of the 6 games out of all the 456 players. The 6 games were childhood games in Korea and through the games, the most efficient, and the most intelligent players stay for longer. At the last two games, a group of VIPs arrive at the island and look very rich. These people are dressed up in suits and ties, and of course are treated like they something. They also had masks on and did not reveal their real self. These VIPs have been investing and betting money on the player of their choice and watches the games on a big screen TV as entertainment. As players get shot and die, the VIPs bet more money on another player and it just continues. This show revolves around survival and money. It is a very interesting but scary way to view it. I enjoyed it so much because after each episode, there is so much suspense and makes me wanna watch more. Since it’s a survival, life or death game within the show, it is very satisfying to move onto the next game and finally come to the last episode. And no I don’t think killing people is good to watch or funny, so I do have to warn you that there are a lot of shooting, and blood in the episodes. But like if you watch it you will understand what the hype is all about. Just watch the trailer first and I promise you that you will wanna watch it!

After reading Should Writers Use Their Own English by Vershawn Young, I noticed the improper English he was writing in and had to reread it a couple of times to make sure that I wasn’t just reading it wrong. Young wrote the essay in his own tongue, something very casual to him. In Jamilia Lyiscott’s video, she speaks about being trilingual and her definition of that was that she can speak English in three different ways. She had a tongue for her Jamaican accent, one for the way she speaks on the streets, and the last tongue is a more proper and formal English. In Lyiscott’s video, she reenacts to us how she sounds in her three tongues and we hear her voice in three totally different ways. Both Young and Lyiscott, walk us through how they speak when they are not speaking what society considers proper and standard English. This does not make them any less than anyone else and they both argue that the English you speak should not and cannot play a role in how articulate someone is. They both mention how much the proficiency of one’s English has had a large impact on how others view them and define them, but it doesn’t have to be this way. Young makes a point in his essay that we should all accept the many English tongues people have and use that to demolish the “standard” and “proper” versions. He advocates getting rid of the robotic script of how the English language should sound. Not everyone is the same and so the same goes for the language and how they choose to speak it. Lyiscott illustrates to us through her video that there isn’t such thing as proper English and that why does she need to have three tongues when she can just have one. Overall, both Young and Lyiscott are suggesting that we should embrace and accept the diversity in the languages and tongues everyone has to offer and that there should not be a norm of the standard English language. Since, they were speaking in such an authentic way, as I read Young’s essay and watched Lyiscott’s video I felt like they were voicing thoughts I had in my head as well. Everything was so real and not fake which made their arguments stand stronger.

I think both Lamott and Dila have very different perspectives on a first draft and none of them are wrong. Writing is expressing yourself and if that means that you go by your very own preference then let it be that way. I do think that everyone has their own set of writing techniques and Dia is right, you cannot force it. Do what works best for you. Personally, my writing process may be very similar to Lamott’s thoughts. I’ve always had a hard time coming up with topics to write about and how to start off my writings. Of course, when I do find the right topic, I find it easier for myself to focus and express what I have to say. I also do believe that the same method will not work every time and I find myself using Dila’s method of writing sometimes as well. The hardest part for me when I write is finding the best hook and the best concluding sentence. I want my writing to start off and end strong, it gives me a better idea of how to critique the rest. I would say one of the techniques that I have used in the past is to find a hook that relates to my topic and a concluding sentence and working around that to create the key content of my writing. It gives me a starting point and an endpoint. Keeps me on track!

In Amy Tan’s essay “Mother Tongue”, she walks us through her journey as an Asian woman in literature. Growing up, she always noticed the differences between the way she spoke English and the way her mom did. A language is a form of communication and a way to express yourself and sometimes the language barrier between one another may hinder how someone receives the message. Unfortunately, in the society we live in today, people will judge, and people will look down on you for many reasons. Thus, Tan finds it challenging being raised by a parent who can only speak “limited English”. She titled the essay “Mother Tongue” to show us that with a mother who cannot speak the best English, her English and the way she speaks had been influenced as well. Mother tongue in itself means the language a child starts hearing after birth and becomes a part of who they are. Tan’s moral of the essay is that there is nothing wrong with knowing limited English, her mother’s English wasn’t broken, everyone just has their own way of expressing themselves. Now as a writer she writes in the way her mom speaks and instead of feeling ashamed she is embracing it.

As a child of Chinese immigrants myself, I have once been in Tan’s shoes. Just like Tan, I have always been very aware of my reputation and how I am being seen in the public’s eye. I grew up translating letters in the mail, translating to government officials, and spoke for my mom because I didn’t want others to see that she was struggling with English. I started to learn lots of sophisticated English words, and phrases, and American ways of greeting people just so we wouldn’t get judged. Sometimes even to this day, I feel like I try so hard trying to impress others and caring so much for the reputation that I don’t see my parent’s perspective, it’s not that they want to know limited english but they are trying.

While I was reading “The First Day” by Edward P. Jones, there was one line that grabbed my attention, when the narrator says, “long before I learned to be ashamed of my mother”. This made me wonder why someone would even say this. I felt eager to read on and find out more about the list of reasons why she was ashamed. However, it seemed like the mom was helping to prepare for the first day of school and nothing seemed odd at all. I got frustrated when I found out that the mom cannot read or write because as the daughter, shouldn’t you be helping your mom when she needs it most? I realized that it was her first day of school and she didn’t want her mom to ruin her reputation already. I remember my first days of school each year, I was worried about all the what-ifs so I can understand where she’s coming from. Overall, I would say that I experienced a wave of emotions from the start to the end of the text.

Hello! My name is Helen Chen, and my pronouns are she/her. Since I don’t have a nickname and Helen is the easiest it can get, just call me Helen. I was born and raised in the Soho area by Chinatown in Manhattan. Growing up in New York City, I spend a lot of my time exploring the different boroughs and stopping by a thrift shop here and there. My mom always says I spend too much money but living in such an expensive city, how could I possibly not. My family is from China and my parents came here in their early 20’s and had me. Therefore, I am Chinese American. Currently, we are a family of three, my mom, my brother, and me! I enjoy spending time with them. Someone who has also become family to me is my best friend. I chose to use this photo of us to introduce myself because I believe that the people you are the closest with are the ones who watch you grow the most and watched you fall and pick yourself back up. I met my best friend freshman year in high school and I have never been more grateful. We are so similar yet so different and I cannot wait to experience more of life with her. Enough of her, and more about me~ I am very happy to be able to attend Baruch College because high school me went through a very bumpy rollercoaster. During the pandemic and over this summer I switched it up a bit, I have started to enjoy reading books such as The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, morning workouts at the gym, and best of the best: cooking and making food! I am no chef but in my free time when I cook, it is such a way to destress and enjoy the indoor moments when things become overwhelming at home. I have always dreamed of going to college upstate at a SUNY but here I am, time flies and not all dreams can keep up with the constant changes in a lifetime. I want to major in Business (not sure what exactly) and possibly minor in health science in the long run. My goal this year at Baruch is to network as much as possible, embrace myself, and see if Baruch is the right fit for me. I am a strong believer of everything happens for a reason and I do not want to have regrets so wherever life takes me, I will keep going with the flow. In ENG 2100, I wish to use writing to learn more about myself and everyone in this class.  Lastly, my motto is “You didn’t live if you didn’t experience it all!”