at the end of the day, who the fuck cares?
it's time to be a little more secure and confident with yourself. 24 is a good age to start
i'm an asian dude. BOOM, tons of you already had preconceived notions of how i looked and how i am as a person.
that's what i deal with everyday.
being asian gives people the opposite impression of me in the quality that you're looking for, i.e. intelligence. and the worst part? people simply think "people think you're smart, what the hell is the problem? what are you complaining about? the "model minority myth" is real and it affects a lot of the youth. they never think they're good enough, their confidence gets shattered, poor asian people are WAY worse off than any other racial minority because people ASSUME they're doing fine... etc. but i'm not trying to hijack this thread to go on a tangent about racial issues.
the point im trying to make is, the grass is always greener on the other side. you can't appease everyone. someone will always think something bad of you, in one way or another.
and really not trying to co-opt this thread into a discussion of my race, but merely as a vehicle to the point im trying to make. the first thing i pointed out about myself is that i'm asian. honestly, it's fucking tiring. that's not remotely even in the top 50 things i think about when i think about myself, but it's the first thing people think about and see when they meet me -- and it's really tiring. every time you "change" someone's mind about you, there will be another 10 people who will think i don't speak english or are a foreigner.
at the end of the day, i dont give a fuck about what any of these people think. and frankly, they're not worth your time.
you've heard all the negative stereotypes about asian dudes. if i let that get to me, i would never get laid. unfortunately... the active negative media campaign to emasculate asian men does IS an effective weapon that affects many of my brethren. you CAN'T let it change you or how you perceive yourself, or they win.
sorry i totally co-opted your post to talk about me, but again, it really was just examples to deliver my thoughts on the matter.