Our paddles’ blades pierced through the water simultaneously as we synchronized our strokes to the coxswain‘s calls. I clenched my teeth as an acute pain shot throughout my arms and instead put more strength into each stroke. As a member of the National University of Singapore dragon boat team, this action has become part of my daily routine. My foray into varsity sports, especially one regarded in Singapore as the most physically demanding, was the first time challenging myself in an area in which I was knowingly weak. Fleeting thoughts of quitting as some left were overcome by the resolve to continue because while this was my biggest personal struggle yet, I was confident that my background equipped me with the means to persevere.
My experience growing up was one of transition and adaptation, as I left Shanghai for Toronto as a toddler and returned years later to live with my grandparents engaged in intense studying of Chinese to bring my Mandarin to a level commensurate to my classmates’, resulting in scoring the highest in exams out of the entire grade within the same year. This early experience instilled within me the value of hard work and confidence in my potential, which I carried on as I entered an international school, where l strived to pick up years of American vernacular while taking entirely new subjects in English. Yet, the academic struggles I faced were not as difficult as those over my identity. Terms like “third culture kid” encapsulated cross-cultural experiences similar to mine, but none captured the attachments I felt towards my amalgamated Canadian and Chinese cultural heritages.
l simultaneously belonged to both cultures and neither, having to apply for a visa to enter China while referring to myself as “from Shanghai.‘ In university, my knowledge in both languages and cultures found its niche in coursework and research opportunities focusing on political issues in China, which required studying Chinese issues grounded in Western academic theories. It is with these past experiences that I decided to challenge myself in sports. As one of the smallest girls, each training became a battleground between the pain coursing throughout my body and my responsibility to my teammates. My discipline, passion, and perseverance were tested to their utmost and these qualities provided me with the impetus to finish every training so that each session became a site of personal victory.
Furthermore, the perfect synchronization the sport demands require that teammates a strong emotional dependence regardless of background. My cross-cultural upbringing enabled me to both bring my unique experience to a group of girls with different interests, ethnicities, and sexualities, and learn from their tenacious spirits, as we strive together in one of Singapore’s best women‘s dragon boat teams. As law school becomes my next step, I am eager to embrace the intellectual challenges in my legal studies with the same attitude and contribute my experiences to a motivated and diverse community.
