I am perpetually humbled by the faith others have in me through opening doors, through urging me to try new and challenging activities, through bringing me onto their teams to hone and share my talents, and giving me the chance to continually learn and grow.
There have been many versions of these “life door/window” moments that have happened from very different types of people, and fortunately as it seems in my life, at what seems to be the “right time”.
The latest door was presented to me by Soo-Young Chin, Chief RO of National Asian Pacific Center on Aging (NAPCA), an incredibly well-respected, talented, and awe-inspiring anthropologist, educator, community activist, among so many other accolades I admire. Behind the door was the opportunity to participate in a public service announcement (PSA) for older adult Asians in America on flu and COVID-19 vaccinations, in the role as the Mandarin-speaking pharmacist.
There were some logistics and hesitancies where I didn’t think it made sense for me to take on this role, particularly because I live on the east coast and the shoot was in Los Angeles, California, but Soo insisted, and her persistence and desire to make it happen really moved me.
And now that I’ve walked through that door – I feel so grateful because the experience enriched my life in many ways that had I not been pushed, I would not have known how much better life is now with the experience than without. This opportunity gave me the chance to:
1. Practice my Mandarin – it was a bit of a bonding moment for my mom and I because I was using vocabulary I don’t use often and we got to practice new words and explore appropriate tones together. She definitely trolled my accent at times 😂, which is totally fair! I don’t speak Chinese enough in my day-to-day life so I feel inspired now to practice more often. At the shoot, the incredible Miriam Suen was my language coach and then I in turn became the language support for a physician/PA and father/son duo, James and Steven Song of which I have so much respect for all they do for their community through their private practice. Not only are they incredibly hard-working, they are really fun and caring too!
2. Learn from an interprofessional and cultural perspective – I got to learn directly from different health practitioners servicing older adults what they were doing in their communities; it really emphasized how important language and culture are for patient outcomes.
3. Learn about formal video production – such a “deer in headlights” experience when all the lens and equipment were around, speaking from a first-time actress perspective!
4. Eat incredible Korean food – I’ve never stayed in Korea Town before and it was brimming with incredible Korean cuisine. My pharmacy friend, Thomas Chou, took me out for skewers, seafood pancake, and ddeokbokki…and then I had the fluffiest egg sandwich for breakfast from Egg Tuck, and I’ve never had KBBQ with melted cheese on the grill – I liked it so much! Oh, and the Lychee Soju Martini remix was absolutely phenomenal 🍸
5. Learn from Asian culture experts – I cannot believe how well-meaning and knowledgable everyone was on that set. I am grateful to have had so much time to learn from people with decades of experience in social race-based progress, like Khanh.
6. Feel more connected to my ethnic and cultural background – growing up in Wisconsin my connection with my ethnic heritage has come to me much later in life; particularly because I made a geographic shift to a more diverse area, the Washington DC, Maryland, Virginia area, where I have now made friends of diverse cultural backgrounds who are helping me understand the Asian part of my identity better.
7. Pay it forward by opening a door for another incredible human – I tell everyone on the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists (ASCP) Justice Equity Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) Committee that one of my goals as their staff liaison is to help them optimize their talents and their passions for supporting underserved communities – Uyen Nguyen was the all-star I recruited as the Vietnamese pharmacist role and then she was able to help her Vietnamese speaking healthcare professional peers. It was wonderful getting to know her more and I am glad she now has some good connections in her local southern California community. She will be getting call-backs for sure!
8. Contribute to helping a population I care for deeply – this PSA is intended to inform and support our older Asian adults through public health education and I’m so grateful to have been part of this effort.
DEI is an incredibly challenging topic area that requires a deep understanding of ever-changing contexts, players, nuances, and possibilities. A new social justice challenge has recently come onto my frontier, of which more details may be to come…but through it all, I am grateful for the community built around me, reassuring me, that as I take on DEI battles of varying magnitudes and conditions; that I’m not alone and that we are in this together.
For anyone who is sincerely experiencing injustice, inequity, marginalization, or exclusion, please do not hesitate to reach out – let’s see what we can accomplish together.
