I am a 31-year-old whose mother is a Filipina through-and-through, and whose father is of European-American descent (Swedish, Austrian, Hungarian).
I don’t want to share too many personal instances from my childhood but after my first 18 years of life, I identified myself as being more Filipino. However, it wasn’t until I started college, having been involved in multicultural student organizations, that I really gained awareness of my cultural identity. When I met peers and made friends who grew up with the same cultural background as mine, I slowly but surely began to embrace my biculturalism.
Because of this, I now never feel awkward when people ask what my ethnic origins are. I would rather have people straightforwardly ask me than just look at me and assume.
In any case, I am proud of being biracial, and proud of having been raised bilingually and biculturally because it all has added a dimension to my life which I can continually explore, and from which I can always learn something new.
Hapa Voice 