The Lotus Project 23 “Walk A Mile In My Shoes”

The Lotus Project 23 “Walk A Mile In My Shoes”

Hi! We are Josie Bai and Olivia Ip. We are juniors in high school; Josie lives in Greenwich, CT, and Olivia in Arcadia, California. We started a nonprofit organization called "The Lotus Project" which works to empower middle school-aged Asian American Girls. Asian American teen girls have the lowest reporting self-esteem levels and we wanted to help fix that and bring awareness to this issue. The funds you would give would go towards all the supplies needed for our Pop-up "Walk A Mile In My Shoes" events. We don’t want cost to prohibit Asian American girls to participate in the pop-ups this summer. We hope to reach 100 Asian American girls on the East and West Coasts for this event. Proceeds would go towards shoes, art supplies, and signage! Here are our testimonials and why this is so important to us.

Josie –

Growing up in a predominantly white town and attending mostly homogeneously white schools, I have always sensed that I was slightly out of place. It was the small cultural differences that would make me increasingly more conscious of my a

Asian ethnicity. I refused to share my Korean middle name with anyone, afraid that I would be teased for it. I looked down whenever the Korean War or, worse, North Korea was brought up, assuming all heads turned to me and all eyes fell on me. I did whatever I could to avoid talking about my race and my ethnicity.

But what I failed to realize was that these cultural and racial differences aren’t a hindrance or a reason for embarrassment, they are a part of who I am and what I identify as. As I grow older, I have learned that being Korean American is so much more than what people think of me. It is what I know myself to be. I now see all the positives of this added dimension to my identity - particularly as Korean American literature, music, film and food have become celebrated. But more importantly, when I look into the faces of my grandmothers, my relatives, and my Korean friends, I rejoice in the unspoken connection we all share.

Olivia-

Unlike Josie, I grew up in a mostly Asian neighborhood. I never compared myself to others or felt out of place when I was younger. However, once I went to middle school, everything changed. As girls pointed out their insecurities, I noticed mine.

I began to compare myself to the American and Asian beauty standards, to which I found that I didn't fit either. I didn't have "pale" skin which was wanted to have by Asians; I was always tan(it was constantly pointed out), and was never able to find beauty in my skin tone. Whenever I would search for "tan Asian celebrity/idol" or try and find someone with a skin tone like mine, it'd be nearly impossible. Some days, I would search for "ways to make the skin tone lighter" or scrub my skin to the point where it stung. Instead of disagreeing with the stereotype, I started to believe it. In addition, my nose is/was one of my biggest insecurities. Nowadays, both in Asian and Western beauty standards if your nose has a high nose bridge, is slim, and has a tip it's regarded as perfect. When I saw my side profile in pictures or even a straight-on photo, I started growing hatred for my nose again, to the point where I wanted to put a close pin on my nose to try and reshape it. I'm still learning how to appreciate the features that I was blessed with, even though they may not be an idealized feature to have as an East-Asian. As I've matured I've started to embrace my Asian features (in this Western society we live in) and be proud of my Asian features.