Interesting article from SFGATE about the pressures of growing up early generation asian american.

Inside the Asian Pressure Cooker
Pueng Vongs, Pacific News Service - August 27, 2005

I could imagine that Whitney High School down in Cerritos, CA(my alma mater) was definitely a school full of asian/pacific/southeast asian americans trying to fulfill their parents dreams of successful kids pursuing high pay high demand careers. I remember one girl couldn't go to prom because she got a B+ on an exam. Even for the 2 years there, suicide attempts, fairly sophisticated cheating, and very depressed kids were somewhat common. It was sad but the pressure was so real. Of course most of my classmates landed their Ivy League or UC schools but I often wonder long term the pressure of such high demand parents. It was even real for me...but I didn't give in. It comes back to who really has to end up with all the work and constant demands of the work.