Naturally, parents who have immigrated to a foreign country want only the best for their child. There is the desire to have that child succeed in ways they did not. However at which point does the desire for success begin to impose on an individual's happiness? Look at some of the compromises your friends and peers have made.
             A South Asian friend of mine (who doesn't want to be named) studied sciences as much as she possibly could, and despite her best efforts, was unable to complete her studies. She complained frequently throughout the first two or three years of university that she actually wanted to run her own business. George advises those in such a dilemma to undergo "an analysis where you're deciding if this is your strength and/or weakness and if you want to do it."
             Do we not have the right to expect that success should also include happiness?
             That contentment can often be lost. Our attempts to please our parents often contribute to the image of the family, the same image that is projected into the South Asian community. Indeed, the image of a family whose child has become a doctor, lawyer, or accountant is seen as extremely favorable. A certain value is then placed on that particular family, and the family now has new outside expectations to live up to.
             The maintenance and longevity of the family's culture and image is a vital component to the behaviour we are expected to exhibit. We are expected to be South Asian, to speak our language, eat our food, wear our clothes, and represent our family. Those expectations can have an affect on the way individual family members might choose to identify themselves.
             Do you remember your first day of school? Do you remember the moment when you realized that you were different, because your skin was brown? For me, it was when I in Grade Two, sitting next to a boy who asked me, "Is your skin really like that or are you really, really tanned?" The question was ...