Graduating for yourself and no one else

flection to cope with stress. He became a peer mentor with project resilience, an Asian American Pacific Islander, AAPI, mental health awareness group to practice coping with others.

During meetings, they discuss their shared experiences like the stress they experience from their families. A common struggle AAPI students face is asking for help since they fear people will think they can’t handle college.

The meetings have been valuable to him and others as they can see they aren’t alone in their experiences while fostering a community with other Asian American students.

“I think with a lot of at least first-gen and AAPI, Asian American Pacific Islander, they have that idea that they have to do this for their families name. So that way our parents can talk about us at dinner parties”

When Phanbandith was younger, he still imagined that graduating from college would be something he achieved for his parents. But since coming to Long Beach State, he has been able to build his own identity and learn to see his achievements as his own.

“I just wish someone was able to help me realize that you’re here for yourself first before your family,” Phanbandith said. “You can still maintain a strong relationship and bond with your family while at the same time understanding your own individual desires and acknowledging the achievements that you did for yourself.”

After he graduates, Phanbandith wants to take a break for a year to gain work experience and go to culinary school, a big dream of his.

Although Phanbandith had done research with professors, worked as a residential assistant, and worked as a peer mentor with CAPS, he wanted real-world experiences outside of the student realm.

His post-graduation plans may not be what most people consider the normal path of high school, then college, then grad school, but it’s the path that Phanbandith wants for himself. Part of his growth is setting goals that he wants to achieve for himself only.

“I wish I could have taken my time and kind of felt my way through things before having to rush into it completely and have it detrimentally affect me because I wanted to impress my parents,” Phanbandith said. “I can go at whatever pace I want because if I go any quicker, I won’t be able to handle it and that’s okay because if I can’t handle it, it creates more mess in the end.”