Mythical Norm

            During chapter 4, I was really interested at the concept of the "mythical norm." I like how the textbook defines this particular term, that is, "a metaphor for those who occupy positions of power in society; they are "the norm" or even average or typical is a myth.(Warren & Fassett p.68) Volunteering in the youth of Asian churches both in Taiwan and America, I constantly have to struggle with the strong perception also pressure from Asian community. I believe different cultures have different "mythical norm." One of the mythical norms for Asian community is the high academic achievement. It's good to have an environment to encourage you and motive you to pursue higher education, but it's a whole different story when the motivation is driven by negative pressures. 

            A lot of time in Asian society, although it's true that the higher education you achieve, the more information you will learn, lower education equals failure and disappointment. When I say lower education, I mean not only if you didn't go to college but also if you went to a "lower ranked" college. When serving in the church with young people, this is one of the issue I have to deal with when helping especially high school students in my small group. They constantly being pressured by their parents to pursue a "better" college such as Stanford, Berkeley, Harvard, etc. And the fact is not everyone can go to a school like that for people have different strength beside studying! Yet I often find my group members having low-self confidence because of the schools they're from are not in the list of the "good" college. Of course there are people who have a different perspective such as my parents that people should be developed in a way that will help they to pursue their best interests and strength; however, the mythical norm still remains with a common perception that you're not considered successful unless you have great academic achievement. 

           I have tried to explain to many parents about this issue because this perspective not only is hurting the students, but also the relationship between the parents and their children. Interesting enough, by resisting this negative perception, another mythical norm was formed among a fair amount students. The perspective on this new group is exactly the opposite, that is, you will be fine as long as you're happy with what you're doing. Personally I don't agree with neither groups, because I believe as long as you've tried your best, you're successful no matter what you've accomplished. As for now I haven't found a way to solve the conflicts between these two groups, but there're some improvements of the communication between parents and the students. Hope someday someone will come out a better answer for both sides.