Out In The Open·Audio

Why a child of immigrant Asian parents craved the words: 'I'm proud of you'

When Grace Hwang Lynch was a kid, she craved hearing her parents say, "I'm proud of you." But they never did. She speaks with Piya about growing up with a North American cultural model that says parents should be effusive when those were not the cultural values of her immigrant parents, and how she's reconciled that in adulthood.

Grace Hwang Lynch wishes her parents said the words to her after becoming a TV reporter

Grace Hwang Lynch (middle), with her parents at Grace's University of California, Berkeley graduation. (Submitted by Grace Hwang Lynch)

This story was originally published on May 3, 2019.

When Grace Hwang Lynch was a kid, she craved hearing her parents say "I'm proud of you." But they never did. She speaks with Piya about growing up with a North American cultural model that says parents should be effusive when those were not the cultural values of her immigrant parents, and how she's reconciled that in adulthood.


This story appears in the Out in the Open episode, "Point of Pride".