family

“These are the things I hold close when I remember that while growing up I contended with some things that no ten-year-old should.”

From my personal experience as a Chinese-Canadian, I find that mental illness and mental health are issues rarely (if ever) discussed in Chinese and East Asian households. It continues to be considered a non-serious issue and taboo subject, resulting in its highly stigmatized state.

Twins Myriam and Kelsie English do everything together. Both are third-year social sciences students who plan on becoming elementary school teachers, and both play on the Gee-Gees women’s volleyball team.

“Ideally, I’d have a PhD, I’d be a professor, my research would be fantastic, it wouldn’t suffer; but I’d also be able to have a family. I’d be married, I’d have children, and somehow my career wouldn’t have to take a hit because I took time off to have a kid—but my family also wouldn’t suffer after I go back to work after giving birth,” she said. “I wonder if it’s really possible to have all of those things.”