random musings · speaking · Apr 23, 2008

University Illinois Chicago

Talking at a the University of Illinois Chicago, which is a state school that’s supposedly not among the better institutions, it was a a great chance to talk to the people-the regular kids-which is pretty much how I got my education.

1) The school is 25% Asian, and even with that, there’s no Asian American studies as a major. There’s a student Asian American office, but it ends there. One office, and 25% of the campus who’s Asian. It doesn’t compute, does it? The majority is probably 1.5 generation, which is maybe why it’s splintered.

2) We talked for about 40 minutes to a decent amount of people, and then answered questions, then it became an impromptu signing session. Usually people just gather and take, but in Chicago, they lined up orderly.

3) The best part of talking to schools is that the kids who aren’t forced to come, really listen as compared to talking at a class where people just don’t care.

4) Another good part about doing it out of town is that these are all new folks who are just finding out about the magazine. Hopefully, they’ll stick around.

5) The good thing is that we got to eat Greek food for dinner. The future of Asian America? I’m not sure, it’s always cloudy, but today, I think we talked good game.