Self Identifying

When you fill out surveys, take a new job, etc…, you are often asked to self-identify. There is generally a list of race classifications for you to choose from - White, Black, Asian, Hispanic, etc… Have I told you how often I fight the urge to choose the “Other” box? I always feel like I am skewing their data because I’m not ethnically Asian, but it’s the only logical place for me to choose.

Personally, I’ve never had much of an identity crisis. Being a Korean adoptee is a part of me that I wouldn’t trade. The problem I have is that I never feel like I’m truly representing myself on these surveys. The logical part of me knows that there is just no way to represent every possible combination of ethnicity and upbringing, but just once it would be nice if I could check a box that truly described me.

I will most likely never find a box that says “Korean/American/Irish/German Daughter/Wife/Mother.”