The year-end Awards Assembly is always a time to celebrate the accomplishments of those students (mostly seniors) who represent and embody those characteristics that a school community holds forth as the best of youth and humanity. These are the students who our community is proud to send out into the world. There is always such a positive feeling in the theater and it always gives me chills. It also is one of those moments that confirms for me that I've been lucky to have moments like these in my job.
However, I noticed something today that is beyond coincidence. The surnames of the boys who earned the highest awards were Chen, Tran, Dang-Vu, Mar and Lalchandani. That's four boys of East-Asian descent and one of Indian-Asian descent. It indicates to me that Asian-American males have found a way to overcome the math-science geek pigeonhole and be leaders in their class and in our school community. I remember that when I was in high school in the 80's I never saw other Asian-American males as leaders, we were all just studying hard and not making waves. I never thought that I had something to contribute so I just stayed along the margins. But I say a hearty congratulations to these five young men. I never taught any of them but I've watched them be class presidents and club leaders and successful in sports. They have obviously found a formula that works and their legacy will be a model for younger Asian-American males. I wish these guys had been around when I was in high school.
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