Being an Asian American professional poses challenges that are often overlooked, derived from a culture that pushes the honor of being passive and not speak out against personal challenges. However, my interview with Morgan Li, gave me a fresh perspective on what it means to be the square peg in a round hole and how you can use that to your advantage.

Morgan Li is currently a graphic designer at iHeartMedia. He graduated from Baruch College in 2013 and is one of the most respected brothers in Delta Sigma Pi for his pioneering ambition within the marketing world. He was born in Queens, New York after his father saved up money from his construction job and his mother working in a sweat shop in China, seeking for new opportunities in the United States. From an early age, he was aware of what it meant to be different, especially growing up in a neighborhood primarily of Latino and African American descent.

His parents had different values. He recognized it immediately when he saw all his friends running around and playing during the weekends, while he stayed behind to help out at the store and memorize the multiplication tables. “They exemplified the Asian stereotype,” Morgan recollected.

Li was then placed in a program for inner city children in the projects, where he was placed in a “early scholar’s program,” which accepted mostly Asian students with similar backgrounds and similar familial pressures. He then went on to go to a prestigious high school, Stuyvesant, where a large Asian community exists as well. Morgan said he felt comfortable there and made lots of friends, regardless of different backgrounds. Good kids, bad kids, Spanish speaking kids, Korean immigrants – he didn’t discriminate.

Li entered the work force when he interned at Oxygen Networks, a company primarily of Caucasian women. He claimed that just being a male in the first place was unique and him being Asian disconnected him even more. Although it was a different experience and he met different kinds of people, he never thought of it as a bad thing – but rather an opportunity to think and open his mind for new experiences.

“But it was also a confusing time for me. I had to screen some of these shows. I had to watch ‘Bad Girls Club‘, where ghetto women are yelling at each other living together in a house. I thought to myself “is this what other people do?” At the work place, I never felt like I was different. I had a different perspective. I never saw it as a problem.”

However, as he began working full time, he has become more cognizant of his different upbringing in the workplace. Instead of making it a barrier of making new friends, he continued to bring his fresh perspective to contribute to the bottom line.

“I always felt like – my lunch was different from everyone else. I would be the guy getting noodles and ramen for lunch – everyone else getting their sandwiches and chicken noodle soups. I would cook up kimchi fried rice and people are like what the hell is that? What is that smell?

I’m always afraid I won’t know what other people are talking about. Someone was mentioning a Peewee Herman movie – everyone in the room knew but I had absolutely no idea. I don’t even know. I know who Peewee is – weird dude, red bow tie – pedophile and what not. I have this lingering feeling that there is going to come back and I’m not going to get a reference. You can’t literally see everything in the world. There are things that you’ll miss because of your Asian culture. People were part of sports teams on Saturdays – I was at prep school because I was Asian. You have to give up something to get something.”

However, there are many challenges that he overcame that he assumes that not everyone goes through. He passionately spoke about his hesitancy of speaking up and giving input in meetings due to the upbringing of respecting elders’ opinions and doing what you’re told.

There was no hard turning point when he overcame these challenges. “You can’t let it drag you down,” he said. “I’m still pretty passive at work. I’m not going to be the first one to jump out to give out the first idea. That might be because I’m still low in the totem pole, but I’m very cognizant of it and I’m working on it.”

When I asked him to leave us a piece of advice, he ended with this:

“It might sound super cliché, but don’t be afraid to be yourself. Go eat that kimchi fried rice at work. People are a lot more open than we think they are. People are more willing to see the world. People want to travel. They want to see new things. We should take that to our advantage. We have something to offer that other people don’t.

Most people like new things – it doesn’t hurt to make yourself stand out a little bit. I wouldn’t go as far to push it to make yourself “THAT ASIAN GUY” but it doesn’t hurt to shine a bit. Let it make you different. That’s what makes you stand out. If it’s something that makes you different in a positive way, go ahead show the world.”