Letters to Adopted & Fostered Youth
Interview with Contributor:
CHARLOTTE COTTER
--
How did
you become involved with contributing to Dear
Wonderful You: Letters to Adopted & Fostered Youth?
I heard about Dear Wonderful You: Letters to Adopted &
Fostered Youth from the amazing [AN-YA Project Co-Founder] Dr. Me- Mei
Ellerman. She is an incredible person and is such an inspiration for me!
Tell us
about a memorable letter you have received. How did the letter impact your
life?
To be totally honest, I have received very few letters. I feel
like my generation does not receive as many letters as people used to. But that
means that when I do receive a letter, it is extremely meaningful! I actually
received a letter recently from a young adoptee who is part of China’s Children
International. She and her mom had sent CCI an email relating her experience
with bullying, looking for support and guidance. I respond to emails usually, so I had
responded with my own stories. I didn’t realize that she would send me a handmade
thank you card with pictures of her and her family as well as some personalized
drawings of both of us as mermaids and fairies. This was really touching and it
made me want to continue my work with the Chinese adoptee community. If I can touch one person’s life in this way,
that is enough for me!
When
you reflect on who you were as a child—what three words would you use to
describe your younger self?
Shy, independent, introvert, a little bit weird perhaps!
Pick one:
pencil, pen, sharpie, crayon—
Pencil ; mistakes happen!
If you
were having a really bad day, what song would you listen to?
“The Climb” by Miley Cyrus or “Invisible Wings” by Angela Zhang
(I’m into Chinese popular music!)
If you
were having an amazing day, what song would you listen to?
“Blank Space” or “22” by Taylor Swift
Pick one:
morning, afternoon, evening, late night—
Late night!
Name a
literary character whose “character” you find admirable. Why?
Pi from Life of Pi. He tells the better story.
Pick one:
blank piece of paper, lined piece of paper, piece of construction paper—
Blank piece
of paper; the possibilities are endless!
Describe
your perfect dessert.
I have recently been into Mango Sticky rice!
Would you
describe yourself as superstitious? Why or why not?
No, probably not. Not sure why not.
When you
are writing, do you prefer silence or sound? Why?
Silence. I’m easily distracted. Any loud noises and all my
thoughts get instantly scattered to the wind.
Pick one:
Coffee, tea, water, soda—
Tea is great for a cold afternoon or night.
What is
the first thing you do when you get out of bed in the morning?
Get myself out the door. Honestly, I’m probably running late. I do
not like mornings.
Tell us
about your life now. What are you working on? Do you have any projects recently
released or in the works?
I am a
Junior at Yale University majoring in East Asian Studies. Within my major, I am
considering focusing on 20th century Chinese history, but I am not
sure yet. This summer, I am delighted to have been selected as a Light Fellow,
so I will be studying in Harbin, China, and, if all goes well, conducting a
research project on domestic and international adoption. That, or Chinese film,
my other not-so-secret obsession.
My biggest current
project at the moment is China’s Children International. I am the co-founder
and current co-president of China’s Children International, one of the first
worldwide support and networking organizations for Chinese adoptees. We were
founded in May 2011, and we’ve expanded to over 1500 members and dozens of
online and on the ground programs here and abroad. Some of our representative
projects include: a bi-annual e-magazine that features adoptee written and
artistic work, two adoptee only community based summer volunteer trips to China,
and an annual Youth Leadership contest that seeks to acknowledge adoptees who
have made outstanding contributions to the Chinese adoptee community by
rewarding them a trip to China, But the work doesn’t stop here! This year we are
looking forward to working closely with our members as we build CCI into a
stronger, even more sustainable community. More specifically, we are looking to
achieve two concrete goals: one, develop our on the ground programs to give our
wonderful members more chances to meet and connect in person, two, build
greater platforms on which you can get your voice heard in what members want to
see in CCI.
We also hope to get a national conference
running by 2016. The goal of our conference would be
three fold. Firstly, we want to empower adoptees to build a more positive sense
of self through meaningful discussion and exploration of identity. This would
include conversation not only on adoption topics, but also on issues relevant
to the larger Chinese / Asian American communities, such as the role of Asians
in America's discussion on race, cross-cultural identity, belonging, the model
minority myth, and other topics. Secondly, this conference would seek to bring
adoptees together to organize a national grass roots movement that would take
concrete steps to strengthen the Chinese Adoptee community into the kind of
community we envision for the future. Lastly, we hope that during this
conference we would together be able to build a project that would give
adoptees greater voice and visibility in the Asian American community.
If
you’d like to get involved, please send me a message through our website: www.chinaschildreninternational.org.
Lastly,
at school, I am the co-president of the Chinese Adopted Siblings Program for
Youth (CASPY), where I am leading an initiative to launch a brand new teen
adoptee mentorship program in the fall. I am also on the board of the Chinese
American Students Association where I help spread awareness about Chinese
culture and Chinese –American current issues and I am the secretary of Building
Bridges, which works to connect Yalies to topics in rural Chinese education.
--
No comments:
Post a Comment