Voices

From EchoX’s DIGITIZE (by Jehan) – Recognition without true representation can be a complex discussion and something that is difficult to clock. On one hand, seeing your community on the big screen is exciting. Familiar faces, traditions, and even language, are shown to the world and add a watchful thrill. However, what happens when your community falls victim to continuous inaccurate portrayals? I’m often left with a headache, wondering why this occurs and about the harm it causes to my own Somali community.

From DIGITIZE (by Jada) – Whenever I tell someone I’m half Fijian they look at me confused, not knowing what that is. Not until I say “you know, like the bottled water” do they understand what I mean by Fiji. For those who still don’t know, I explain that Fiji is a small island country in the South Pacific Ocean. Anyone can agree that it has the most beautiful scenery from its luscious green palm trees to its crystal clear blue waters. 

From DIGITIZE (by Isabel) – Alex Zúñiga is a Project Manager for Azure Integration Services at Microsoft, graduating from the University of Washington (UW) Paul G Allen School of Computer Science with a bachelor’s in computer science in the summer of 2022. However, the experience of getting to this position was a long, tedious road.

From DIGITIZE (by Gabby) – My sister once said that our home, the land of our ancestors, looked just like heaven. She was showing me a photo of a beautiful river with the sunlight beaming perfectly on the branches and trees, the rocks formed on the river to make smoothly balanced bumps in the water.

From DIGITIZE (by Emily) – Grades are important to many students, but due to cultural pressures, Asian American students in particular can be more susceptible to basing their self-esteem on academic validation.