This depresses me.

No shit, right?

WNBC confirmed that the body found in the East River is indeed Richard Ng’s, a Columbia SEAS student who was due to graduate today - that’s right, TODAY. (Jesus, makes me want to jump in the East River too.) And the New York Post story at the link above speculates that it was an apparent suicide.

Why off yourself right before graduation? You’re home free, right? Well, if all you’ve known is school and all you’re good at is school, then the real world can be pretty fucking scary.

And then there’s the pressure. The NY Post article says that Ng may have been worried that he hadn’t done well on his finals. Those crazy overachieving Asian kids, right? At least some commenters over at Gothamist think so.

But although it may seem like a stereotype, Asian kids do indeed face tremendous pressure from their parents to not only do well but to save the entire family. Oftentimes they’re the children of immigrants and the first in the family to go to college, and the huge burden of pulling the family out of poverty is placed upon them.

Of course this isn’t to say that kids of other races don’t feel the same pressure, but in Asian culture there’s also the whole saving face thing. Kids are an extension of their parents; if your kid’s not doing well, then that reflects badly on the parents and sometimes the whole family. And so Asian parents hold tremendous power over their children, and as a result, in many Asian households, parents=God.

So when you do badly, not only are you disappointing your parents and family, your’e disappointing people you equate with God.

Of course I’ve no idea if this was the case with Ng, but I knew a lot of Asian kids at Columbia, and at SEAS specifically, and sometimes the pressure was debilitating. (I, on the other hand, lazy shit that I am, was ditch-class queen.)

All of this just in time for Asian Heritage Month.

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1. Graduation Season
2. Child and Infant Car Seats in Taxis and Livery Cars
3. Two Munchkins, Due Restaurant
4. Yo Soy Boricua Pa’Que Tu Lo Sepas
5. Expressionless or Sad babies