In her Ted Talk, “What Reading Slowly Taught Me About Writing”, Jacqueline Woodson talks about the importance of reading slowly to show respect to the work itself and the author’s story. As Woodson notes, it is important to respect the narrative the author is conveying as it is their story to tell. Respecting the author’s work is important because it not only allows the reader to appreciate the work, but also allows them to better understand the story itself. As individuals, we may not always like the books and articles that we read and may find them boring or hard to get through, but it is still important to respect the hard work and effort the author put into telling their narrative. For example, I was never able to get into the Percy Jackson series, but I know the love and audience it has accumulated and respect the author’s story and vision for the books. Just because I personally could never find love for the series, even when I read the first book for school, I still appreciate the story the author wrote.

Looking back through all of our previous blog posts, the one that stands out to me the most is the reading, “Asian Americans Are Still Caught in the Trap of the ‘Model Minority’ Stereotype. And It Creates Inequality for All”.  The concept of model minority in Asian Americans is an idea that, in my own life, I have not given much thought to. As sad as it is to say, I’ve never really had discussions about model minorities in school or at home, as opposed to the more frequent generalized conversations of racism and the struggle People of Color face. I think the effects and the pressure of being a model minority Asian American is often overlooked as it may be hard to understand how people with “model lives” are struggling. I think the most shocking part about reading this article was learning about the shame these people feel about their appearance and lifestyles. With the stereotype of what a model minority is, I didn’t think that their lifestyle would bring so much shame and pain. There is so much societal pressure placed on these individuals to be perfect that it understandable the struggles they face. You never know what other people are going through until you are in their shoes, so even if people appear to be happy and successful, they could be struggling internally. Overall, this was a very informative article that taught me a lot about the topic of model minorities and I look forward to learning even more about this subject.