Yes, it's true that when I moved back to Washington state, we had all different colors of people in every classroom and even some that were foreign exchange students, but something still seemed off-putting. The way in which we talk to each other and interact with other races still seems to be uncomfortable for an alarming number of people. We have, in fact, made progress since the '60s as all races can now go to school together and it is accepted. Yet, it still seems like people are forming groups by their race and their social class status. But, of course, this happens in places all over the world.

Before I moved to Africa, I didn’t really see that there was a problem with looking different than my group of close friends. I always knew that I looked different, as they were all white besides maybe two other girls who seemed to be in the same boat as me with parents that were third-generation and had been in the United States for a long time. So I understood when people had a problem with the way I looked or the way they thought that I would act since I grew up in a pretty white-based community.

It was when I moved to Zambia that I noticed how people acted around me because of my race. There were more pressing issues on racism and equality that I picked up on very quickly while living there. When I told people that I was American and had lived there my whole life before coming to Zambia, they did not believe me because I was Japanese. But because I was Japanese and had an American accent, I was the biggest mystery to all of my classmates at my new school, and I discovered a whole new level of indirect micro-aggression.

So yes, I looked Asian and spoke with an American accent -- it was something I never had thought of based on my previous school and my life back in America. It was hard to be different-looking, but even more hard to accept that people thought I was wrong in saying I was American. I had to constantly explain to people that would fight with me about my race that I was, in fact, American -- I had an American passport and had lived in America my whole life. I had to reiterate that they needed to look at the president (it was Obama at the time), look at the American TV shows they watched and the artists that are popular in America. They listened, but everything still went in one ear and out the other.

I had dealt with a lot of name-calling and people who came up to me and asked if I spoke English. Yet, the main thing I have had a hard time with is the model minority label. The majority of people would base me on what they knew about my race, whether it was being good at math or excelling in everything. I was always categorized as that type of person for most of my middle school career. Maybe it was because I was someone who didn't really know exactly what I wanted to do at that time, or maybe it was because people actually thought I excelled at everything, but I always thought that it was because of the model minority stereotype that is put on Asian ethnicities.

After telling this story to my aunt and cousin, I figured I needed to speak out on this issue for a different side of the story. Racism is an extreme problem that exists around the world -- in schools, on the streets, and especially during events when you're surrounded by a variety of different individuals. It's an ugly issue that needs to be changed and addressed again and again by people who are affected or want to help change it.

I know it's said all the time, but racism is still alive and kicking. We have to take action.