AAPIHM 2025 - To the Future Leaders

Growing up, I’ve had a handful of positive influences in my life. You can say they’re unofficially my mentors, playing roles that has shaped my outlook and propelled me in my career as well. I realize that all these individuals were Asian Americans, as am I. I believe I was drawn to them because there were many traits of myself that I saw in them. Through them, I was able to open up and bring up things that I would consider vulnerable, that I may not approach my parents about. Having that mentorship in life is so important. Without them, I absolutely would not be who I am and I am grateful for their impact.

The conversations that were had partially took place in locations that we’ve met one another.

Harry: I’m Harry Xie. My pronouns are he/him. I am Chinese-American and I’m a high school senior at Stuyvesant High School.

Sean: Do you remember the first time we met? Tell me what you remember.

Harry: I do remember. We were at the Stuyvesant Sticky Fingers Annual Alumni Tournament. You were doing the photography for us, and I was always super interested in photography. You were also on my team, so I approached you and asked you general photography questions. You were super open about it. Three days later-ish, you messaged me and you asked if I wanted to purchase this camera from you. It was a beginner set up, and I said yes. The interaction was scary at first, but after getting to know you for a little bit, I realized that you’re very open and just nice. So it was easy to open up and tell you about my passion for photography.

Sean: Why is having someone you can look up to so important?

Harry: Having someone to look up to is like a back to lean on when you’re facing uncertainty. I feel like recently, uncertainty is the main fear for me, not knowing where I’ll be in the future, but just knowing that I have people to look up to who know. Knowing that they’re there for me is very comforting and it’s almost like I’m certain that I will do well.

Sean: Growing up, did you have any Asians that you looked up to and how might they have affected who you are today?

Harry: Growing up, it was definitely Jeremy Lin. As for many other Asian Americans, I felt like I was connected to him just because of basketball. 17 was always my favorite number because of him. His story about being Chinese-American, and being able to play basketball in a league where it’s so dominated by others, was inspiring.

Seemingly, he was alone in this fight. But he made it work so well, and I guess it shaped me because whenever I feel like I’m in tough positions, I always think about Linsanity and it drives me to do better.

Other role models, I’d say all my coaches. They’ve really led me on and off the field. I feel like my life has been shaped so well by them. I looked up to them as I do my parents. I think Dvo specifically was the reason why I stayed in Ultimate Frisbee. I didn’t really like the sport too much. It was the fact that I threw a backhand in my first practice, and he was the first one to compliment me. Though, it was more so the fire he had in his voice. He yelled, “YES HARRY!”, a phrase that I still commonly hear. That just felt like a wow moment for me. Like, wow, he cares. So I stayed. Over time, I realized how much he actually cared and it wasn’t only just for me. It was for everyone around us. He was so passionate and caring to everyone. He never lost that passion and fire, even after saying that same line a thousand times. You know, if it wasn’t for Dvo, you wouldn’t be sitting here doing this project with me. I feel like it’s scary to think about where I would be without Dvo.

Sean: What are your thoughts on being someone who can pave the way for someone like you.

Harry: Feels great. I mean, I know that eventually I’ll meet someone like me. Who knows, maybe I’ll be coaching them Frisbee, telling them what to do in life or giving them breakup advice. It’s comforting to know that I’ll be someone like Dvo one day.

Melody: My name is Melody Lin. I use she/her pronouns and I am Chinese-American. I’m currently a college student.

Sean: Do you remember the first time we met? Tell me what you remember.

Melody: I knew of you within the dance community, but I think we formally met for the first time through LegaFamBam in 2019. And that’s our high school dance team we do every summer, bringing together alumni and current members, and putting on a fun showcase. I think it was in Gibney’s when we were learning a piece before casting for a piece. That time I was in high school going into sophomore year.

Sean: What are your thoughts on being someone who can pave the way for someone like you.

Melody: It’s a really great thing. Of course, it’s something I aspire to do. I feel like it’d be really beautiful. Yeah. I don’t know, I don’t really think of myself that way.
Since high school, I think a big thing on my agenda was trying to be positive and spread kindness. It sounds simple, but it’s leading with love. That’s something really important to me. I don’t think that’s the only way a person should live, but I do believe it’s a nice thing to have. And I think if someone can take from me, it would be to do just that - being kind and spreading love.

Sean: Growing up, did you have any Asians that you looked up to and how might they have affected who you are today?

Melody: I feel like this is an interesting question for me because at first I couldn’t really think of anyone. I think it also comes from the fact that I’m the eldest daughter, and that it was stressed to me that I had to be the role model for my younger sibling and that I had to pave the way myself.

I think my grandpa, being the eldest of his siblings, put a lot of pressure on me to do well, or even exceed what my cousins have done. It wasn’t always the greatest relationship or perception in my mind. It always somehow felt like a competition.

Thinking back on it, I did have a lot of role models I took bits and pieces from. One that’s more recent for me is my older cousin, Christian. When we were younger, we had a very sporadic relationship because he’s from Nevada. Only occasionally, we would play as kids when he would visit New York. As we got older, he became more intentional, trying to bring our family together because our extended family is relatively big. We have a lot of like second cousins. I really appreciate him because he reached out to me. He went to Harvard, so it was nice that we were both in Boston at the same time. He was a college senior when he reached out, and I was a college freshman. He was that kind of a guiding figure in my life. In a sense, it almost felt like healing family bonds because we were never really that close growing up.

My name is Peter Lee. My pronouns are he, him, his. I’m Korean American, and I work as a software engineer.

Sean: Do you remember the first time we met? Tell me what you remember.

Peter: The first time we met was when you came to teach a workshop. Actually, you taught in the atrium. I think it was to Rocket. And I was like, “Oh, an alumni.” I was getting into dance my freshman year. And I remember having a lot of fun with the choreo. We were then on Unique Movement together and that was really the first time I got to know you. I do feel like even from the get go ,I saw you as a mentor figure because you, like me, went to Stuy. From my eyes, you were a pioneer of the Stuy dance community. Also career wise, I remember asking about startup stuff back then. Like, “What is a start-up?” *laughter*
I mean, it’s been so long. I don’t remember the specific conversations that we had, but the impression of my memory from our interactions is that you were always positive and helpful, in the sense that you were providing perspective.

Sean: What are your thoughts on being someone who can pave the way for someone like you.

Peter: Oh, it’s so meaningful. I value growth a lot. Not necessarily like productivity growth, like writing more code. Moreso being a better version of yourself, or being a happier version of yourself. If I can do something or set something up so that other people can have more fun or like work on themselves more, or like have an easier time. I don’t know. I think that’s probably one of the most meaningful things to me. It’s really about making a positive impact in the world. We all look for meaning, while we’re alive. I think that’s one of the things that really makes me happy.

Sean: Given that you were born in South Korea, would you say that your identity is Korean over Korean American? I would love it if you could actually explore what you define as your identity.

Peter: I moved here when I was ten. Of course, my identity was closer to Korean back then. In high school, I think that’s when I started to feel a bit more confused about my identity because I was definitely becoming more American day by day. But I wasn’t fully American. My English was still noticeably “FOB-by”. In college was when more of a complete transition happened, where I identified myself more as a Korean-American than just Korean. I think my experience is pretty common.

Sean: Why is having someone you can look up to so important?

Peter: The biggest example is just seeing representation in the media. For example, Jay Park. He’s Asian-American. He grew up in Seattle, went to Korea, did all these things. I think just seeing someone that was on a similar path to me and seeing them achieve great things makes me believe that I can do those things, too.

Everyone needs some guidance, right? Maybe your parents, maybe some random K-pop artists that you’ve never even met. But it’s those people that really set examples and show you the things that could be done. Then that gives you the foundation to do it yourself.