From a desire to belong to embracing their heritage. Adjusting to new places can be difficult for anyone, especially for the children of immigrants. But as they become adults, some are rethinking the way they see their identity.
“Moving around certainly helped with adapting to the various spaces,” said Catherine Shen, a host on Connecticut Public Radio.
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WATCH HEREShe’s no stranger to settling in new places, having moved all over the country throughout her life, including spending seven years growing up in Taiwan.
“There’s a pro to moving that young. It’s a lot easier to adapt at that age and it certainly came with challenges,” she said.
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SIGN UP Challenges that included fitting in and navigating a new language and culture. Even moving back to the United States as a teenager, Shen was still grappling with her own identity -- not feeling fully American or Taiwanese.
“A lot of us Asian Americans in various backgrounds kind of felt it in a similar way,” Shen said.
But the pandemic shifted Shen’s perspective, with the rise in attacks against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders during that time where she saw the community rise up and speak out.
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“When I realized we were having sort of a collective revelation of what was happening during that very fraught time, I call this the silver lining of the moment, it actually allowed me to realize that it’s actually okay to embrace your culture,” she said.
An embrace that includes a recent discovery of Asian dramas. Shen says she was drawn to the storytelling and didn’t realize until then what it meant to see people like her on screen.
“They’re not about Asian trauma. They’re not Asian immigration stories. They’re just stories,” she said.
You’ll see her carrying around a water bottle with stickers of her favorite Asian actors and singers from those dramas. Her desk is no different.
“I’m owning my identity. I’m leaning into what I enjoy,” Shen said.
She uses her lived experience telling stories of others as a host on WNPR radio in Hartford.
“Certainly, with that experience and identity in the background, it does add a layer to many things,” Shen said. “I can use those experiences to work on stories that perhaps others may not have insights to and I would say that’s the biggest thing for me.”
