thewinningessay

Scholarship Essay for Summer Fun In China Program 2006

Submitted by:   Linda and Alan, Parents of Jack

fun of my slanted eyes. They say they make me look half old son,
Jack, was looking sad and irritable. “Mom, everyone made were
easier to take for Jack. He was the center of attention for a
adopted child of 3 years. The first two years of school in America
were easier to take for Jack. He was the center of attention for a
crowd of blonde, blue-eyed, rural children who had never been up
close to a Chinese boy before.   They were younger, too, and Jack
was funny and outgoing.   But now the newness had worn off and
he was now evaluated based on his behavior and ability to “fit in”
with the rest of the children against a backdrop of racial and
cultural stereotypes. The elementary schools in the region had
merged this year and many new children were meeting Jack and
taking their cues from the kids who no longer saw Jack as a unique
entity. I realized that my son was going to need some to win
psychological skills to negotiate these everyday social interactions
being different: he was of a different race, he was adopted, and by
to win friends and protect his self esteem as a consequence of
being different: he was of a different race, he was adopted, and by
parents not of his race and he was older than the other kids in his
class. “What did you say in response?” I asked him. “I said, Well,
atleast the sun doesn’t bother my eyes as much!” And he answer,
explained about how Asian eyes have an extra heavy lid. Great
answer, I thought. And then I considered how many times this will
scenario will play out throughout his life. Thinking about how Jack
will need to be light on his feet with a witty response, my husband
and I considered what can we do as parents to help our children
able to co-exist comfortably in both cultures?
identify with being Chinese and being American? How will they be
able to co-exist comfortably in both cultures?

The Summer Fun in China program offers the unique program
features we were looking for.   It provides us with a unique
opportunity to learn about Chinese language, life and culture that
can’t be gotten anywhere else in quite the same way. We like the
fact that the program is run at a Chinese arts academy with high
level instructors and that it is sponsored by Chinese families of
students in the academy.   The students of the hosting families are
paired up with an American Chinese child. Our children can
experience “guanzi” by making emotional connections through
shared experiences and becoming friends with native Chinese
children. The program also gives Jack a chance to spend a
weekend with his new Chinese “buddy” and sleep overnight. The
children can experience what it might be like to live in China as a
Chinese child. Jack has a memory of “riding on a bicycle with my
father through a field of sunflowers.” And he, too, will be the object
of wonder and awe at his English-speaking ways and skills by the
Chinese students there. Hopefully, each will learn a little of the
other’s language. For Jack this is particularly exciting because he
remembers living in the orphanage and playing with other children
there. “Maybe my memory will come back, Mom,” of speaking
fluent Mandarin.

Through our children we, as parents, can share common ground
with our Chinese counterparts as we directly experience life for a
Chinese family. It also gives a Chinese family a chance to meet an
American family with a Chinese child. We are all Family
Ambassadors!

We look forward to the fact that Summer Fun in China caters
exclusively to adoptive families. Jack is about to turn 10 years old
in a homogenously white, rural community. He says he is proud of
being Chinese and can list significant facts about China, yet the
circumstances from which he finds himself now as an American in
an entirely non-Chinese environment are painful and complex to
understand. As Jack experiences the good and bad of being of a
different race in an all white community, he needs to understand
and explore his Chinese heritage and experience what it means to
be Chinese on more meaningful levels.   In trying to help our
children forge identities as Americans of Chinese descent our
mission motivates us to seek experiences beyond a passing
academic interest in anything Chinese. The program provides a
point of connection for families to view this experience through the
lens of adoption and create supportive bonds between each other.

The Summer Fun in China program addresses our wishes as
parents of a Chinese child. Jack remembers the day he left his Li
Lao Shi at the orphanage. She took her bracelet off her arm and
placed it around his small, brave wrist as they hugged good-bye.
Jack wears that bracelet when he needs comforting. He will wear it
when he re-visits the orphanage in Beijing. The Summer Fun in
China program will provide Jack with two weeks in a loving
atmosphere of fun and learning after that experience. Through
this program’s unique structure he can replace the older memories
of disenfranchisement with new ones and put down important
psychological roots to grow his new identity as an American of
Chinese descent. It is our wish that the friendships and memories
will endure for a lifetime and give our son, Jack Xin Xin, a
connection to being Chinese as a place in his heart and mind that
he can go to whenever he wants and draw upon when he needs to
in the years ahead.

Submitted by: Ana and Steven, Parents of Ava

Nine plus years ago we adopted our daughter, Ava, from the
Xiamen Welfare Institute in Fujian Province. In the last few years
we have heard of many FCC families like ourselves who have been
returning to China. This news sparked talk and thoughts about a
return trip knowing that Ava is proud to be Chinese, likes travel
and wants to know more about her birth heritage. Finally, the
present moment is a great time in our daughter’s life to return to
and see China because at age ten Ava has fantastic insights into,
and important questions about, her world.

As we have thought about the possibility of this return trip, we
asked ourselves “What do we want from this trip?” Ana, Ava’s
mom, is an artist and I am a middle school teacher here in New
York City. We know that as a family we have extended time during
the summer to travel and that we want to know more deeply what it
is like to be in China. Importantly, we also want Ava to know better
who she is. Throughout the year Ava attends weekend Chinese
language and arts classes – she has done this since she was
about three. It has been great for her to grow up with girls like
herself who are adopted from China and for her to get attached to
her Chinese teachers. We also live and attend school in a
multiethnic city and have regular opportunities for many types of
intercultural experiences. But in a way, all these things are not
enough. The possibility of staying in one location, take classes and
getting to know Chinese families for a couple of weeks resonates
with our need to do more than a have a tour. When I described this
opportunity to Ava, her eyes lit up! She likes the idea that we can
form friendships and begin to know children and families in China.
She immediately wanted to know how we would we meet Chinese
families and who would be at the school.

For us, the parents, an important part of the Hua Xia experience is
that Ana and I would get a chance to study Chinese language and
culture. We insist that Ava study Chinese, and she enjoys it. But
the Summer Fun in China Program would put us in a place we
have rarely been in front of our daughter – asking ourselves to be
students and open to learning something that is challenging and
important. As a family we have done activities like now when Ana
and Ava are taking a class together in the art of Chinese paper-
cutting. Other things we do include faithfully participating in and
helping out at FCC events and staying connected to FCC families
here in Brooklyn. These experiences remain important in our lives.
Yet we are looking to extend and expand ourselves, our community
and the involvement of our family in issues that matter to all three
of us – what it is to be a Chinese American and what it means to be
an intercultural and interracial family.

We think your program fits our family’s needs. The scholarship
would make it possible for us to participate. Thanks for your
consideration.

An important part of our return to China would be a visit to Xiamen
and the orphanage.