Remember how I was complaining about being “Hungry, Broke, but Hopeful” in one of my posts a while back? Well here’s that hope of mine paying off. There are times when society will tell you that you’re failing in life, and everyone around will tell you that you’re failing as well, but if you are doing something that you believe in, don’t let these distracting noises get to you! As cliche as this might sound, these words led me to my first real paycheck as a community worker.
I started working in January with an API civil rights group called OCA-Greater Seattle. Formerly known as the Organization of Chinese Americans, they aim to embrace the hopes and aspirations of all Asian Pacific Americans. Though I wasn’t “ballin”, I was able to sustain myself from my paychecks and I was happily making videos to document the histories, issues, and events of the community. I never knew that Seattle was built by Chinese American settlers after the great fire, I never knew that the Japanese Americans were the ones who started the fish market down at Pike Place… Pages from local API history started to unfold right in front of my eyes. Soon, I was immersed in a world of powerful stories.
This leads back to what I said earlier,
don’t let society tell you what you’re doing isn’t worth anything!
Guess what? I am now more sure than ever that I’m on the right track, video story-telling is a passion and a talent I’ve discovered along the way of struggling to survive doing what I do. My contract with OCA will end this month, but I’m more excited than ever to start a new chapter. I know in the end, no matter what I end up doing in life, I have the API community interests in my heart and I will always give back what I can. So for you youngings out there, take a part in this API movement, take a stand, it doesn’t take much to be a community worker, or even an activist. Take action, and make changes!
I’m making changes, one story at a time.
