For many Asian families, the typical path after graduating high school is attending college or university. However, Aaron Li is not your typical Asian American. 

A second generation Chinese immigrant, Aaron Li is a freshman at West Point, one of the most prestigious military academies in the world.  When Aaron was thirteen years old, he heard news of the Paris Terrorist Attacks, the devastating series of assaults that took 137 lives. A preceding experience of losing a loved one taught Aaron about empathy, and he realized that the numbers on the news were actual people. Ever since then, Aaron has wanted to join the army to prevent more lives from being tragically lost. 

Military academies are notorious for their strict training regimens; whether it be walking with weights in his backpack or filling jugs with concrete to make dumbbells, Aaron had to relentlessly train ahead of the imminent challenge. Fortunately, once in West Point, Aaron didn’t have to overcome obstacles alone, and received help from fellow freshmen and upperclassmen. Through numerous experiences like scuba team tryouts or a strenuous training drill, Aaron forged rare relationships. As a minority, Aaron observes that he was warmly welcomed and befriended by cadets in West Point. Outside of the Academy, however, Aaron notes that Asian Americans are often isolated from the rest of the community due to superstitions or assumptions about different nationalities. 

Based on his experience, Aaron encourages Asian Americans to be open minded to new friendships. Specifically, Aaron calls for the Asian American community to “build connections with people as individuals, instead of people within a certain race.” Asian Americans should be first and foremost guided by the mindset of “what can I bring as myself”, instead of “what can I bring as an Asian American.” Seeing race as secondary and stepping outside one’s comfort zone is crucial in order to connect with strangers from various ethnic groups. When we adopt this mindset, we ensure that friendships are based on our respective individualities instead of  our skin color. Arguably, relationships built upon personality are stronger and more robust than relationships built superficially on race.  

By no means is race meaningless, in fact, Aaron encourages the younger generation to stay connected to their heritage, as holding similar cultural values can deepen bonds with the Asian community as well. In other words, one should not see race as your entire identity, but continue to cultivate the shared values from your culture.

Throughout his first semester, Aaron noticed how West Point was built on a cohesive community that valued active camaraderie. In contrast, despite being from the same continent,  Asian American communities are split into many factions. Partly, Aaron explains, this is because of the various cultural and dialect barriers. Since Asia is a huge continent, there’s bound to be diverse cultures and practices. 

Nevertheless, Aaron points out that our values of discipline and hardwork do not stop at borders. Aaron urges the Asian communities to come together and be more cohesive as a unit through these shared ideals, “It’s important to stick together and support each other as even though race should not define us, it is a big part of who we are.”

Ultimately, Aaron stresses the importance of individuality when forging networks, but also reminds us to be aware of our American values and make connections within our race.  Certainly, in a time of divisiveness, unity is more important than ever. Not only can we achieve unity by being open minded to people with foreign backgrounds, but also through fostering stronger connections with those who share our cultural values.