My Dad is a Janitor By Jasmine Ku
“My dad is a businessman,” said the girl in front of the classroom. “My mom is a dentist, and my mom is a teacher,” said the guy next to her. As each student kC; f fCkT TCA }3 CTCA‘ ^ CC; as my turn came closer and closer. I looked around nervously, analyzing each person’s words. Data A‘ T}C4 ^CTA‘ ;Ck^CTA‘ fC k C on. I felt tension begin to well up behind my eyes, forcing me to cover my face out of embarrassment. A million questions raced through my head. “Should I lie or tell the truth? What happens if I tell the truth? fW f;A IC fC TfAm kW I 3C };^C;Am Why do I feel embarrassed?” I paused and wondered as the last question rang in my head. I uncovered my face and took a deep breath in. I mustered as much CT ; 4[;C4C I4; k f C ; looked at the 20 people in the classroom. “My dad is }kTA‘; Tk;TAlA”
My dad would tell me stories about working in a noodle shop, loading food trucks, chopping oxtails and making those chips that go in egg drop soup. NA‘ ;; T }kT ; ;T Chinese newspaper company. For all of my life, my ; 34C 3CCC ;kHCTC ;TA‘ k^ ÆAlAl ; [ 4k^ fC AlAl TfC T k;C T ]3 }3 kf lots of money, but they work incredibly hard to keep me in college.
Image from Christine Almeda illustration
Freshman year of college, I heard the phrase A„[TA⁄^CCTkA” ]T fC [T kCAl I ;k;A TC understand what it meant. It was simply a phrase ; kf ;C[kk CAl A^CT CTA‘ IA; kC fk I[ ;CT; f kC 3C [TA⁄ generation college student. Millions of questions and worries go through my head. Will my parents be working for the rest of their lives? Will I be successful enough in the future to support them when they’re old? Am I making the right decision with my life for them? Are they still happy? I don’t know the answers to these questions, and I won’t know until maybe another decade has passed. Sometimes, I feel guilty for procrastinating or doing poorly on an easy assignment. Since my parents are working so hard to make me happy, I should do my best so that their CHT;A^ CAl
Nowadays, I don’t mind telling people what my parents do. If someone doesn’t ask, I won’t tell, but I won’t cover my face in embarrassment. Because of the work they have done and the way they have raised me, I can say that I am proud of them. I’m not afraid to say f ;;k}kTAl
Vol. XLI, Issue I 9
