Hi, I'm 15 years old, a teen known as Gary Liang. I came here from China at the age of 4 and I have been here in the United States for almost 12 years. I love all kinds of music, I seriously love Science Fiction, and I love working with electronics. During my free time, I go online and chat with my friends or sketch in my sketchbook. I'm not sure what my future career will be but I hope it will be something I love doing.

Grace Zeng
Good day, I'm a 15-year-old girl who came from a strict Chinese family. I got my English name from my Chinese name's sound; it was given by my first teacher in America. My Chinese name is Gui Zhi Zeng. When you read it a little bit faster, it ends up like Grace. So my name is Grace Zeng. I came here when I was about eight. The first day that I stepped in San Francisco I was stupefied, but anxious, too. I felt like an alien that just came from another planet. Everything seems so different. Buildings are a lot taller, everywhere looked brighter, and people around me are totally different. The school system and language used around was also strange. As I had said, I am from a strict Chinese family because my parents grew up in China. I'm the first born with two little brothers and a little sister, so my parents make me do housework after I came here. They also gave me a lot of pressure by pushing me to be a good roll model for my younger siblings. So I'm pushed to behave. What I mean by having strict parents is that they never let me be who I want to be. In addition, the culture that I'm talking about says that girls should be taught to do house work and to take care of the younger siblings. Yea, that's all.

John
I came to this country when I was only nine. I came here along with my younger brother and both of my parents knew nothing about this country. The only thing I could remember is that it was very hard to be a foreigner. I didn't understand the language and the culture. After living here for almost ten years, I begin to realize that there are lots of opportunities. No matter where you came from, the society accepts you as an individual. Finally, I graduated from high school. My parents were proud of my accomplishment. In just few months I'll be heading off for college. This is only the beginning. The future is still yet to come.

Lisa Hoang
I've been living in San Francisco, California all my life. I'm an Asian American teen who is sixteen years old. Growing up in San Francisco, I attend a public high school called Galileo Academy of Science and Technology. During the school year I joined a youth group called Asian Community Teens Organized for Neighborhood Empowerment, or ACT ONE. It opened my life up and I became a loud, obnoxious, and fun person. The program taught me more about personal skills, how to produce a radio show, about strengthening families, and improved my public speaking, etc. My interests are reading, going online, shopping, hanging out with friends, and most of all listening to Sum 41, Blink 182, and 2Gether.

Queena
The best decision I ever made in my life was joining a Youth Leadership program called ACT ONE. I've become more open, happy, understanding, or should I say loud. My co- workers are like my second family to me; they're very caring, nice, comfortable, and fun to be around. They gave me the opportunity to learn and try new things like public speaking, dealing with family problems, producing of a radio show, going on retreats like Santa Cruz, visiting colleges tour, camping, etc. Working on the Strengthening Family Communication Project helped me learn more about myself and to deal with my own family problems. After the program I became closer to my mom; I began to talk and joke around with her. There are skills I have developed in ACT ONE and the fun times we went through gave me a great smile.

Raymond Li
Once upon a time, a young boy and his parents traveled across the Pacific Ocean to a new land called America. With the knowledge of the new land that is filled of opportunities, they left everything behind and entered a new world with hopes of bringing pride for their family and ancestors. The young boy had to adapt to a new culture and its language. Learning English every single day, the young boy finally adapted English as his primary language. His parents, on the other hand, had to work day and night just to survive in this new land. Without any quality time for the young boy, their communication has worsened. With the parents speaking Chinese and the young boy speaking English, they have a hard time communicating with each other. It's just like a chicken talking to a duck; one does not know the language of the other. As the young boy was determined to maintain his supposed identity, he took Chinese classes at school and learned Chinese traditions from his parents, hoping to get a sense of who he is. Today, the young boy has regained his Chinese culture through intensive hard work. Can you guess who the young boy is?

I'm loud, but well-mannered, short, but with high confidence, and whiny, but in a funny way. I'm turning 17 in July, and when I watch drama movies I like to cry. I live in San Francisco, go to school at Galileo, and my favorite phrase is "I don't know!" I love *NSYNC because they are really hot, Backstreet Boys think they can compete but I think not. OH, by the way, my name is Tenile Wong and I hope you enjoy reading this paragraph.