Gung Hay Fat Choy. This is a greeting heard across Chinese communities during the Lunar New Year. In the celebration that just ended, I was able to embrace these words as a way to wish others well for prosperity, health, and happiness. 

But that wasn’t always the case. These are also words that remind me of my struggling middle school years, where I was considered different. My story is not uncommon: first-generation kid trying to fit into the typical American mold. All I wanted was a Lunchable!

As I start this Year of the Snake, a time of great change and uncertainty for my communities, I find strength in the snake as a symbol of rebirth and renewal.

Celebrating diversity

I’m grateful to have found a path that allows me to be comfortable in my skin and confident with my voice. This journey has been possible because I have been given ample opportunity to speak and think freely about my identity and how it fits with or challenges social norms. I also recognize the significance of systems that allow me the safety to be able to explore and find solace and wisdom in my identity. Access to classes and professional development, as well as meaningful conversations with coworkers, have helped me understand and respect what it means to grow up Chinese. Most importantly, I understand that being different isn’t a bad thing: it’s a strength I offer to the communities in which I work.

It’s refreshing to see differences being celebrated now. When I walk into my kids’ school and see two big dragons at the front of their multipurpose room to signal the coming of the Lunar New Year to everyone on campus, I’m proud of how far we’ve come. Unfortunately, these past few weeks leading up to the Lunar New Year feel like a step backward. We are being told that diversity, equity, and inclusion are no longer a priority, and with that, I’m suddenly back in middle school. 

I don’t want to go back to concealing who I really am to feel safe.

Safe Routes is about more than traffic safety

As a member of the Transform Programs Team, working in school communities implementing Safe Routes to Schools in Alameda County, I approach the work with a lens of diversity and inclusion to ensure services are equitably distributed. Safe Routes finds ways to tailor programming because we know that not every school community has the same definition of and access to safety. 

As I strive for safer streets for all, I acknowledge that I have room to grow and learn. I recognize that my life experience can only take me so far, and I need the support and expertise of others to find a solution that addresses the complexity of diverse communities and perspectives.

Inspired by community heroes

Over the past 10 years working on Safe Routes, I have seen communities bring their heritage and life experiences to elevate our work. I think of the Latinx parents from Hillside Elementary in San Lorenzo who started a walking school bus at their school and worked together to find ways to translate our walking school bus flyer so it was more relevant to their school community. On the day of the walking school bus launch, they brought out the school to make the inaugural event a success. 

I am also reminded of the hardworking teachers and staff who are integral to the buy-in of Safe Routes across a school community. At Winton Middle School in Hayward, we worked closely with the school’s family engagement specialist, who had the principal, a school board member, teachers, and the school cheerleading squad come out and celebrate everyone who participated in Bike to School Day. It’s a reminder that we don’t make communities healthier and safer alone. It is through partnership and trust building that we move the dial forward.

I am honored to work with everyone throughout Alameda County, where diversity is the norm. I’m glad we have had a chance to work together, knowing we all belong together. I hope we have collectively built up our resilience to prepare ourselves for what’s next.

Never going back

Transform’s Program Team will continue to lift up community members of all races and ethnicities and give folks opportunities to develop leadership and service. I’m proud to be part of an organization that serves families of recent immigrants and families that have been here for a generation, or two, or 10. 

After such a long journey of self-discovery, I have no plans to let my sense of belonging and value be suddenly overturned. I won’t stand for it — I reassert my place as part of the tapestry of life in a place where our diversity is the engine that drives our creativity. I proudly celebrated Lunar New Year this year and plan to do so every year. Gung Hay Fat Choy.