AAYP 2016 Youth Ambassadors Scholarship
Queenie Tang
Where Are You From?
When I’m asked where I am from, I always hesitate to answer. I’m never sure of what the answer really is. Here is my story in twenty eight words: I was born in Brooklyn but I moved to Hong Kong when I was three months old, but I immigrated back to New York when I was six. Fluent in English and Cantonese, I never had a problem fitting into both the American and Chinese communities. But when asked this question, it seems like a test to see which of my two homes I favor. Though I’m permanently living in America, I still have a very strong love for Hong Kong, a place rich with culture and history.
That is why I started my journey as a Girl Scout in the seventh grade. A part of Troop 3197 in Chinatown, it is the perfect way to incorporate the Asian American community in my acts of bettering our society. Throughout my years as a Girl Scout, I’ve always been contemplating about my project idea. What is an issue that holds a true place in my heart? When I became an Ambassador in Girl Scouting (highest ranking of Girl Scouts), it was finally my time to create a Gold Award project. The Gold Award is the most prestigious award a Girl Scout can receive and scouts complete a project in a minimum of 80 hours that focuses on an issue that they would like to fix in our community. I thought to myself, “What better way to give back to my Asian American community that this?”
During the summer, I spend my days running back and forth between my job and my mission in hand: the surgical and pediatric department. All my free time would be dedicated to sick Asian American orphans who lack a support system outside of the hospital staff. Hospital staff treats these children as patients, simply another body to explore and attempt to fix, but I made it my job as a volunteer to try to treat these patients as people and understand their struggles as well.
One may question why I chose this issue for my Gold Award project. I’m not an orphan. I don’t have cancer. My family cares for me and I am healthy. That is why I felt the need to give back to those who are not as fortunate as we are. In Girl Scouting, we close every meeting with the Girl Scout Law and Promise. In the Girl Scout Promise, it states that “we must help people at all times.” When I pledged to be a Girl Scout, I made it my mission to benefit the community in any way that I can, and I think that this is a great way to carry out my promise. The more time I spent getting to know these kids, the more I realized the emotional obstacles they were facing.
With my Gold Award Project, I hope to help these kids get through this tough time. Though I cannot benefit them medically, my project aims to relieve their pain mentally. Through this project, I’ve discovered my passion for science and it also allowed me to appreciate the complexity of life. By learning about the lives of others, I’ve come to recognize the many perspectives and outlooks of the world. I’ve learned so much about myself, both as an Asian American and a Girl Scout. Connecting with these children through our cultural identities has helped me discover my priority, which is staying true to myself. I have found my answer to the dreaded question: I am Asian American.