DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

This first interview is with a friend of mine who played with me on my high school golf team and has also played in many individual tournaments. She is currently a freshman at Santa Clara University.

1. Who introduced you to golf?
My father

2. Why do you think he wanted you to play golf?
Short Asians don't have a good advantage in other sports where height comes up as an issue. Also, college opportunities and scholarships were a goal.


3. Have you ever felt pressured to play golf? Who made you feel pressured? Why was golf emphasized? (To get into a good college and have a successful career? For fun?)
Yes. My parents. It's not easy for my parents to earn enough to afford a private school education. Nevertheless, they saw a private education as key to finding an upstanding career.

4. Do you think this type of pressure is healthy? What kind of effect has it had on you? Were your feelings ever considered?
As I look back on it, I think the pressure was unhealthy to me emotionally as a kid growing up because it pushed me to a point where I found little fulfillment in golf, and I resented my parents for holding me up to their standards. Their competitive attitude sucked the fun out of the game, and the idea that my achievements translate to personal worth has stuck with me since. For my parents, golf was a means of achieving monetary freedom, but I never saw it as that until recently. In the Filipino culture, the child honors their parents by accepting their beliefs as facts. In the end, my feelings were and still are irrelevant in relation to what they believe is the proper course of action. The pressure never built true confidence and courage in me. And now, as a college student finally free to make my own choices, I don't know how to choose what's right for myself because I've never had to do it before.

5. Do your parents push you to meet the "model minority" image or do they give you more freedom and let you do what you want? (get good grades, do well in your extracurriculars, go to a good college, be successful in whichever career you pursue…)
Grades, college, and a successful high-end career were all part of my parents' plans for my future. There hasn't been a single time before college where my parents supported me in something that I found interest in.

 

6. Do you enjoy playing golf or do you view it as more of a chore?
Golf is definitely a chore as of right now. I'd say that I play almost mindlessly. If there was another way that paid my college just as well, I would jump at it.

7. What have you learned from your years of playing golf? (not so much the game but from the whole process itself)
I've learned patience, how to bounce back quicker from life's rough spots, and how not to treat my kids.

8. If you could do it all over it again (go back to before you started playing golf) and decide for yourself, would you still play golf or perhaps pursue something else?
I think I would have still played golf. I like the person I am now, and part of who she is comes from my past experiences with golf and my family. In addition, golfing for a scholarship looks a lot better now as a young adult who needs to care for her own finances.

DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

This second interview is with another friend of mine who I met through a volunteer program. She has played in many competitive tournaments and is currently a freshman playing for San Jose State University's women's golf team.

 

1. Who introduced you to golf?

    My dad

 

2. Why do you think he wanted you to play golf?

    Because he plays golf too

 

3. Have you ever felt pressured to play golf? Who made you feel pressured? Why was golf emphasized? (To get into a good college and have a successful career? For fun?)

    Yes by my parents because I wanted and they wanted to me to play college golf.

 

4. Do you think this type of pressure is healthy? What kind of effect has it had on you? Were your feelings ever considered?

    Not really because it affected my score more. I kept thinking about how I have to play good and if I dont I will get in trouble so I was definitely pressured. I dont know if my feelings were considered because I never told them about the pressure I am getting from them.

 

5. Do your parents push you to meet the “model minority” image or do they give you more freedom and let you do what you want? (get good grades, do well in your extracurriculars, go to a good college, be successful in whichever career you pursue…)

    They push me to be successful in everything especially school and golf. I have to always let them know what I am up to!

 

6. Do you enjoy playing golf or do you view it as more of a chore?

    Both. I enjoy it but some times it comes to the point where I want to take a break but I cant because I need to practice.

 

7. What have you learned from your years of playing golf? (not so much the game but from the whole process itself)

    To become a positive thinker and be patient!

 

8. If you could do it all over it again (go back to before you started playing golf) and decide for yourself, would you still play golf or perhaps pursue something else?

    I would definitely play golf just because I enjoy it and I get to play competitively in a good school.

DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.