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So, today is Saturday, March 9th, 2024. My name is Grace Park and I am interviewing Terrence Tran on behalf of the Houston Asian American Archive at Rice University. So first, I'm going to ask you a few questions regarding your early life.

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So, could you tell me when and where you were born? Sure. So I was born in Houston, Texas. 1992. So, I've been born and raised here, so I've lived in Houston my whole life.

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I went to a bunch of different schools in HISD and then Cypress ISD. So, a little northwest of Houston for the last couple of years in high school. Let's see. And how would you describe your childhood and adolescent years?

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So, if there were any special holidays, traditions or just memories you recall growing up? So, growing up, I wouldn't say I was the only Asian-American person, but I was one of the few. So I do vividly remember being like 5

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or 6 and kids say, like, how do you say this in Vietnamese? And how do you say that in Vietnamese? And I think I was a little annoyed, but it was like a 5% annoying and I just went along with it anyway.

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But I mostly just remember not thinking about it. And then maybe when I was like 7 or 8, realizing I live in Texas. Oh, and I'm, I'm Asian.

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I didn't know at all; I didn't even think about it. So that's the big things I remember just kind of not realizing and slowly learning that I'm a little slightly different than most of the people around me.

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Yeah, for sure. I think as you grow up, you have that realization. My next question is, what were your parents occupations and what are some of the values and lessons that your parents instilled in you?

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Sure. So my mom was a teacher when I was a younger kid. She owned a laundromat, but I guess she didn't want to do that long term. And then my dad, he worked a lot of different jobs.

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They broke up when I was 3 or 4, so I don't remember exactly what he did for work, but he did a lot of different jobs, like interpreting and then something in an office. One time he brought me to, like, bring your kid to work one day,

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but I don't really understand what he was doing. But, yeah, that's the main thing I remember from what they did for work. I see. My next question is, what was your favorite subject in

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school and what were some of your aspirations or, like, dream career as a child? So for me, school wasn't necessarily hard until I had to try and then I, I didn't really know how to study.

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So for the last couple of years in high school I struggled. And then when I went to college, I was like, okay, I gotta straighten up a little more. And I figured it out, but I wasn't that

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concerned with, like, what I wanted to do. So I had those aspirations that I didn't put any real weight into. I was like, oh, I want to be a movie star. But did I want to act?

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I don't know. I wanted to be a rapper, but was I any---did I show really any promise in that? Not really. When it comes to the favorite subjects, I think I liked math a little bit, but that's just because my mom

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was a math teacher, so it just came a little easier. But for me, school was just, like, a place I went and learned some things in general, and I just hung out. So, I didn't take it super serious until I absolutely had to.

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I see. Can I ask, was your mom also part of the Houston International School District? Like, did you come in a lot of contact with her when you were a student yourself or? Actually, no. She worked in different schools than the schools I went to.

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I think she worked in Spring, so I was in HISD while she worked in Spring, so I never saw her around school or anything. Yeah. That's it. I see. And then my next question is, were there any

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historic event or narrative that impressed you the most from, you know, your first year of history classes or textbooks? I do remember learning about the Old West and finding out that there were a lot of cowboys of

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different ethnicities. I guess in my- the single story in my mind was that it was just, you know, Anglo white looking people. And then when I learned that there was a lot of different kinds of cowboys,

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it was, like, very eye-opening and, like, world-opening for me. So that's something that I always think about-think back to. Wow, I did not know that. So [TT: Oh yeah. Yeah.] for me too.

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Okay. And then now I'm going to ask you a few questions regarding your college and just education. So, at what point in your life were you inspired to study English? So, it took me very long.

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When I was in college, I still didn't really know what I wanted to do. So at first I was like, okay, I guess I'll be a business major and I took one economics class, and I was like I can't do this. I took it for a week and I dropped it.

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I was like, okay, I have to pivot to something else. I-I think I briefly thought about doing communications, but I was like, nah, that doesn't seem to gel with me. So the first two years of college I took at Lone Star Community College,

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and I didn't have any elective classes. They were all math classes because I still really didn't know what to do. So I decided to do English because I wanted to be an attorney. So, I was like, okay, I could get an English degree and that would

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work into going into law school. So that was my big takeaways from my undergrad. Then I went to law school and I realized, like, oh, I don't--I don't like this either. So--so I--I really enjoyed

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English in college. In high school, it was just whatever for me. But for, for whatever reason in college, I really took to it. So after graduating and, like, realizing law school wasn't for me, it took a little bit of, I guess, soul searching and I just kind of

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really like creating, I like different perspectives and kind of the research aspect and kind of formulating these thoughts together in a way to present it to people. I see-and then I see that, you know, you've spent your

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college years and a few different institutions. Right. So the Lone Star Community College, the law school, as well as University of Houston, so how would you describe your undergraduate or other years at those institutions?

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Yeah, it was interesting because they're all in Houston technically, but they're very different places. When I went to Lone Star, I was taking the classes in Cypress, so there was-everyone lived around there, were all 18,

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19, 20 years old. And then when I went to the university, it was in downtown, and I had to commute for the first time. So I was living in Cypress at the time, and I'd have to drive there. And I never driven that far before.

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And I think I just got a car when I went to U of H so I was driving like 30 minutes and actually maybe 40 to 50 minutes cause I wasn't taking the highway yet. So, it was just small roads and then I got---

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it was interesting because it was a, a lot more people, but the range and ages and experiences opened up a lot. So, there's a lot more older people trying to get their degrees later in life. Some people who might be working in, like, a another degree in master's degree as

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well. And so that was very world-opening again, just in who lives in Houston and who's even going to college? And then when I went to law school, it was a very specific set of people.

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Of course, there are a lot of people from different walks of life and stages of life, but all of them had a very lawyerly thing to them very ambitious, very specific with intention, in their words.

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So for me, I didn't really enjoy law school because it just didn't feel--- it felt like I always had to be in competition personally, I'm sure there's plenty of people that don't feel that way and that I didn't really like that environment for myself.

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Yeah, for sure. I can see how, you know, like being surrounded by such a wide spectrum of diversity of people could have been eye opening at the age of, like, 18, 19, 20. So, related to that, did you have any, professors, mentors,

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your fellow students who left a significant impact on your life, whether that's academically, socially, or otherwise? Yeah. So, I had a few teachers in high school that I look back to, and I realized they had a bigger impact than I thought.

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I joined speech and debate my last two years in high school, and I really enjoyed it. And I thought it was just kind of fun at the time. But looking back, I really did just help me feel more confident in expressing

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myself. I'm still not great at public speaking or anything, but I feel like I at least understand what is good public speaking and how to make form a good argument. And in college, I had a few teachers during my last two years

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as well, that really had impact on me. I took, I think, 2 or 3 film analysis classes, and that really kind of awoke a passion in criticism and analysis for me. I think that was Professor Jackson, and he

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was--he was quite animated. But I really enjoyed how he kind of broke down, how to look at things with a critical eye and to put things in perspective. And I have one more teacher.

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Her name escapes me, but I took at least two creative writing classes with her, and that also really built my confidence in just writing stories and a lot of different ways, because looking back at that time, I thought I was already, oh, I'm already great at writing whatever,

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and I think they're pretty bad now. But it was it was a great experience just to be able to craft these stories, ideas and kind of share with other people. Yeah, that's amazing that you're able to, you know,

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recall how these professors have shaped you to become who you are today. So that's amazing. And then my next question is, what was your first job? My first job, so I actually was late to working.

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My mom was very--- I think she just wanted me to just be able to do well in school and have a childhood and relax and all that. So, I only started working when I was about 18 or 19, and I think this is when I decided I wanted to go to law school,

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so I interned at a law firm. It was-it's-it only lasted about a month or so before, I guess the internship ended or I forgot what happened. Either I couldn't keep doing it or something along those lines, but it was

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either an international law firm or international law-law firm trying to get Asians in America citizenship with green cards and things like that. And it was very interesting. I had a--- I don't know if the word is interesting,

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but it was it was cool--- it was neat to see these attorneys. They were, husband and wife. They were helping immigrants become citizens. And that was that was really cool to see.

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It was kind of wholesome in a way. Later on, I think they got in trouble with the law, but yeah. Oh, I see. I hope they're doing okay, but-

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I don't think they are. [GP: Oh, no.] It was in the news. Oh, okay. Well, I'm still glad, you know, you were able to have that eye opening experience. [TT: Yeah. Yeah.] Yeah. And now I'm going to ask you a few questions

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regarding your career in teaching. So how would you describe your experience as an E.L.A. instructor at the Harmony School of Advancement, as well as the Houston and Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District?

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Yeah, so after I left law school, I had to find some means of work, obviously. And since my mom was a teacher, she knows, like, hey, you could be a substitute teacher. They're flexible hours and, you know, etc.

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so I tried that out for a couple of years as I was working on things, to study and, you know, just improve my resume. And so my plan was just to substitute various different age groups and see which one I was comfortable with.

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Although I enjoyed teaching or interacting with elementary kids, it was just very exhausting. And what I found is that I had a much easier time in high school, even though it seems like a lot of people are kind of scared of that for

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whatever reason. But for me it was very natural and it was easy. So I locked in on that and I started teaching English. And then once I got started, obviously I was a little nervous, but I think it

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was---it's very rewarding just to see them grow as students develop their skills in writing and also building relationships with them to where they feel comfortable failing, talking to you and expressing themselves. And whether I realized I was doing it or not,

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it just kind of reflected in their ability to write and form their own ideas in a way that's presentable and that other people can understand and be convinced of what they're saying. So, it's been a very rewarding job, if not a little taxing.

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Yeah, that's amazing to hear that. You know, you're able to witness all that growth in your students. So, yeah, related to that, what would you say are some of the most impactful moments in your teaching career so far?

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Mhm. It's--it's probably just the little things like students, a handful of students during the holidays or at the end of the year will give a lot of their teachers gifts. And sometimes I could tell, excuse me, sometimes I could tell it's like,

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okay, they gave it to everybody. It's one and the same. It's still a nice gesture, but the things that really feel impactful are when students are like, hey, Mr. Tran, you really changed my

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life or you had a great impact on me, I'm so grateful for you. And they don't even know that I take that and I keep that. And I'm like, I'm crying inside and the teacher's lounge or something just because it's just so wholesome.

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And I'm like, I'm just going to work, like, 9 to 5, whatever. And then here this kid is like, you know, you're a big inspiration and all that. So it happens when I least expect it, but it-those are the moments that really

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feel like, wow, there's something very fulfilling and genuine happening here. Yeah. That's so sweet. And my next question is, why is teaching important to you, and what do you hope to achieve as a teacher?

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And, you know, what aspirations do you have for yourself as you continue to walk in your teaching journey? So when it comes to teaching, I think I would just like to help the next generation

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be more literate, able to analyze things with a critical eye, and just understand the art, literature, just anything that's happening in the world. Because not to get really old man, you know,

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yells at cloud, but there's just a lack of understanding of nuanced concepts. So things such as satire or, or anything that's just not very up front with its meaning seems to get lost a lot of the time. And I'm very happy to see when students are able to

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understand the subtext of something, or like the deeper meaning, or like a dual meaning. Anything that isn't just very easy to comprehend, but very obviously is being told to you on purpose,

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I would like everyone to be able to understand that, because that's what art is all about. And I've grown to really appreciate art for myself. I think I--I want to just keep

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molding other younger minds, just to be able to appreciate what is being told to them, rather than telling them what to think, they can come. My whole philosophy is that they can take take away whatever they want. They can feel however they feel, but they need to at least understand what is

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happening rather than misinterpreting it and then having a whole opinion about it. So moving forward, I'm considering like going further in my own education, maybe teaching, like, at university,

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like, down the line. But right now it's a little too far away for me to think about so I'm just focusing on being in the moment of just what I'm working on right now. Yeah. That's great. I'm very excited to see, you know,

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what's to come for your teaching journey, as well as the general education-education scene. And so now kind of moving on to your, like, content creation aspect of your career. Can I ask how did you first come to pursue content creation?

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And, you know, how did the Quality Culture Channel come to be? Yeah. So, when it comes to YouTube and just content creation, it only started during the pandemic, really when everyone was at home. So I think a lot of YouTube channels started around that time because everyone's at home

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and you could finally do it. For me and Stephanie, my partner on the channel, we always thought, oh, we have these ideas about things that nobody's talking about, it'd be cool just to get it out there.

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And originally we just wanted to have the idea exist. So somewhere somebody can find this and be like, oh, that's my idea. Because something that I was---this a phenomenon or a sensation I've always felt on the internet is that eventually

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somebody says something, I think, and I'm like, okay, great, it's out there. But there's always little pockets of things where nobody's saying this, but it needs to be said by somebody.

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So the idea was just to have our ideas out there. If ten people saw it, it was enough. Just somebody would know. A couple videos blew up, like went viral and it made it

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like, okay, so we're not just some random person, we can kind of really do this and have an audience. So we took it a little more serious to where we upload more consistently, put more work into it, research, editing, featuring other

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people and citing our sources more. So, the more serious it got, the more serious we took it and it kind of became what it became today, where we have 200 something thousand subscribers and, you know, lots of videos with people who

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are very well-regarded in the YouTube community as well. Yeah. That's amazing. I totally relate to that about, you know, like seeking for, like, a

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thought, or looking for someone on the internet who, like, shares the same insights as me. So that's amazing how it grew from that to, like, you know, 200K subscribers.

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And so my next question is, what are the demographic characteristics of your audience? So it kind of fluctuates depending on what's our most recent video, which one is

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really getting viral or blowing up. For the long time when we first started, it seemed like the audience was people who were into nostalgic cartoons. So cartoons, children's cartoons from, like,

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20 years ago or something like that. But me and Stephanie, we never really wanted to just do just one genre of something, so we wanted to just expand it. So early on, it was kind of really hard work to continue

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to satisfy that audience while satisfy our own creative ambitions and just getting our thoughts out because we're not just interested in one thing, we want to talk about lots of different things. So after that, I think a certain video about the movie The Lovely Bones,

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which was also a book I believe and that one got really big and our audience started to skew quite largely with the female demographic. And so obviously we tried to satiate that too, but continuing to want to just do what we want rather than only appease these

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audiences, it kind of mixes and varies. I think our audience can shift from men and women, but it typically comes from an audience that wants to appreciate and understand a piece of media or art.

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So sometimes we're talking about authors or books. I really do enjoy talking about musicians because we can hear a song or maybe an album and think it sounds nice and understand the lyrics on a surface level, but there's a lot of the times there's a

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bigger picture happening, and that's the part that I like about music, where you can appreciate it in the moment and not have any idea what's happening in this larger context of their career. So personally, I like putting things into context,

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like looking back at an old movie, seeing what the world was like and comparing it to today and how we view it today. So I think our audience comes from people who just, like, to understand the nuances of the history of

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how these pieces of art come to be. Yeah. That's great. I feel like it's, you know, really easy to miss those nuances in the greater context. So yeah, that's amazing.

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And my next question is what does the typical process look like from, you know, initially choosing a video essay topic to ultimately publishing the video on YouTube? So now that we have to take a little more serious,

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we have to think about, well, is it going to do well? Is anybody going to watch it? So we have to balance that with our own interests, cause there's lots of things that I would like to talk about that I'm sure would not

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make a lot of money. And sometimes they still don't, but it is what it is. What we do is usually the first step is whether something really interests us, like if we feel like we have a lot to say about it. Because there's things that are very popular that

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thousands of people talk about, like, in depth on YouTube or whatever that, you know, maybe I do have something to say, but they're already saying it. So I personally--- we personally don't feel like we're adding anything to that conversation.

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If we feel like we have something to add, that's when we really feel the spark. Once that happens, we start to do research, which could be anything from reading books, just googling, finding academic research, sometimes finding someone an accredited person to to talk to.

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And once we do that, we're gathering all that information and starting to write. And when we write is basically like one of those, essays you write for, for class. Except these are our own rules that we give to ourselves.

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Like, how long do we want it to be? What is it about? What sources do we want to use? That's up to us, and it can take a long time for me since I have, another job. I have to take some time on my, my personal time to do it

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so it takes longer. It takes a couple months for me to write a video, and essentially it's just a regular essay, but just pretending like I'm also going to show some things as well. And so I'm writing notes about what clips to put,

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what interviews to put, maybe a joke or two or something like that. And then it gets to the editing, the video. That's when Stephanie works on it, because I don't have any video editing experience, but she does.

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So she puts it all together, and by that time is when it becomes what you see on YouTube. I see, thank you so much for that walk through of the whole process. [TT: Yeah.] And then you kind of mentioned, you know,

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having to balance, your other job with content creation. So how do you balance or also kind of like integrate your teaching and content creation with each other. So you know what those time management look like?

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And do you ever find that, you know, one profession influences the way you approach the other one? Huh? Maybe. Maybe subconsciously. But I'm not actively trying to marry them together.

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When I'm doing work for school is when I'm like, I can only focus on doing this. Or, like, doing grades, a lesson plan, making sure all these kids understand what's going on if they're where they need to be.

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And then when I'm at home, when I'm finished with all that, is when I can think about doing things creatively. The only times they kind of intersect is when I give assignments that are creative. And sometimes there's an intersection.

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They think of certain ideas and they ask like, how? How do I write this? And I'm like, well, you gotta do introduction, body, conclusion. And that's essentially what I'm already doing when I'm writing video essays

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for YouTube so that--that intersection happens just when it comes to them writing concise and structured paragraphs and, and essays. But when it comes to how they work together, they're pretty separate parts of my life that I try to keep separate.

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I see. And then I know you just kind of mentioned you keep those parts separate, but do you think there are some similarities or differences in your interaction with your students versus, like, your audience slash subscribers?

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It's interesting because the, for YouTube and subscribers, there's, like, that whole para-social relationship. Not to say that I'm famous, but people will see you on the internet and you're they kind of know you because you're speaking to them,

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but they don't really know you. So they talk to you like they know you. And it's very weird to me, like a stranger just--just jumping into a conversation, either disagreeing or agreeing. And it can always feel weird that way.

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The relationships that I have in school are much more familial. Obviously, after we get to know each other in the first month or so of school. But they know me and we know each other personally, so I'm working with them, actively helping them,

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actively thinking about their performance in school, and even just how what's going on in their life. For YouTube it's just interesting to see how people are invested in us, or just even a specific

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video and take big, sweeping takeaways about who I am or what I think, or how wrong I am, or just how incredible something is. It's very I don't know, kind of isolating in its own weird way because I'm just trying to put my thoughts out and suddenly

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there's thousands of comments saying something about it. It's very different than talking to someone directly. Right. Yeah, that's very interesting. I never thought about it as, you know, like, your subscribers are total strangers to you,

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but they somehow know you. So[TT: Yeah, it's like they're reading, like, a diary for me and I don't know anything about them.] Yeah, it's very interesting.

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So my next question is, what are some of your biggest sources of inspiration in generating video ideas, and how do you select which movies, shows or, you know, books to make videos about? So, when it comes to the selection process, it's something we

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think is in this sweet spot of popular enough for people to want to talk about it, to check it out, but not talked about in depth enough to where we can add something to it. And so if it's a book, for example, one of our more popular videos

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is, about Frog and Toad. That's a book a lot of us read when we were kids, but it's not something that people are talking about today as like, you know, really analyzing the themes and what's going on.

00:29:27.320 - 00:29:35.930

But when we did that, I personally was, like, okay, neat, sure, why not? But it really blew up. And it kind of speaks to something that's not talked about,

00:29:35.930 - 00:29:47.720

but we all know and when you see it, it's like, oh, I want to see more about that. So that's like that sweet spot where we really enjoy. But sometimes it's just something that really inspires us to say something.

00:29:47.960 - 00:30:00.730

It doesn't have to be about the views. It's just something we find interesting. Some of my favorite videos on the channel are the ones that are like, really, really low in views, but I really enjoy my take on it or our take on it because

00:30:00.730 - 00:30:09.950

not enough people are saying that. What was the other question? I'm sorry. Oh, no. You're good. It was, just how do you find---like,

00:30:09.980 - 00:30:27.560

what are some of your biggest sources of inspiration and generating ideas? Oh, right. When it comes to inspiration, it's a lot of the, I guess the original generation one of the video essayists. So it would be the easy ones like Contrapoints or Lindsay

00:30:27.560 - 00:30:46.220

Ellis, and maybe even some review-type people. I do enjoy Anthony Fantano review style and even Chris Stuckmann’s review style when he was still reviewing movies consistently. But when it comes to what we do, I think we take a lot of influence from the

00:30:46.220 - 00:31:03.590

big video essay type creators because they could take deep dives into something. They find a source's accredited sources, quotes, video clips to just put everything into context, and it's not just about this is my opinion, but also these are facts.

00:31:03.590 - 00:31:20.300

And people who study this, like, thoroughly rather than just some guy on the internet talking. Right, I see. And then just out of curiosity, do you ever get commissioned to make videos or is it

00:31:20.300 - 00:31:32.840

just out of reach? We get asked to, but we haven't done it because we--we do our best just to do videos we're actually inspired to do. Obviously, sometimes you just do a video and you're inspired,

00:31:32.840 - 00:31:46.340

but it's not like the most pressing thing you want to talk about. But we don't really do commissions because we have to have a genuine interest in talking about it. Yeah, for sure. I think that genuine interest is a really important factor.

00:31:46.340 - 00:32:02.870

And then speaking of which, what do you think are the most important factors to keep in mind or, you know, challenges to overcome when analyzing popular media? When it comes to popular media, it seems like you have to really

00:32:02.870 - 00:32:17.930

preface your words. And what I mean is, there's always someone ready to interject with a yeah, but what about this? And yeah, but what about that? And for me, personally, I feel like it's always important to just

00:32:17.930 - 00:32:35.780

repeat that you understand these things that are criticisms or thoughts out there because it seems like if you say it once, nobody will remember and they'll just think you're not acknowledging something. So that seems to be something that is always on my mind.

00:32:36.140 - 00:32:48.950

I know that people think this, but I believe this because of X, Y, and Z, and I always have to keep repeating. I know that people think that, like, that's something I always am doing in my type of videos.

00:32:53.150 - 00:33:12.020

And then what are the most significant challenges that you had to over- or overcome so far in your content creating journey? The biggest challenge would just be balancing how much time and effort we need to put into it, versus

00:33:12.110 - 00:33:29.680

how--how much money is coming back to make it worthwhile. Like if we're putting, like, 100 hour weeks into something that, you know, is the equivalent of, like, a $10 an hour job 40 hours a week, we really have to question, like,

00:33:29.710 - 00:33:46.480

okay, is this something that's worth investing in because it's going to grow later? Or do we have to, like, cut back? So that's always the big balancing act for YouTube because it's so inconsistent, like, being a teacher, that's where I can have a consistency in my

00:33:46.480 - 00:34:00.280

income. So I don't have to really worry week to week, month to month about, you know, paying the bills. But with YouTube, it's very finicky. It's very uncertain, like, if a video we expect to do

00:34:00.280 - 00:34:11.470

well, like very well actually does that. Or if a video that we think we're just, you know, we're doing for ourselves, maybe that blows up and we get a bunch more income than we expect.

00:34:11.470 - 00:34:27.850

But the biggest issue with YouTube these days is just finding the balance between doing what we want to do, and making videos and content that we're really proud of, and considering if it's monetarily feasible to keep doing that.

00:34:29.140 - 00:34:43.240

Yeah, for sure. I can totally see how difficult it would be to, you know, keep the ideal balance. My next question is, what would you say is the greater message that you seek to convey to the world through your Quality Culture channel?

00:34:43.240 - 00:34:57.820

And what do you just ultimately hope to accomplish through your channel? That's a good question. I think for me, I want to just--- the original idea was just to have our put our ideas out there,

00:34:57.820 - 00:35:15.370

but there's also these little wrinkles and addendums in that idea inherently. I think both of us don't really want to be those type of YouTubers or content creators, whatever we want to call it, that just finds something popular that people dislike

00:35:15.370 - 00:35:28.450

like,[uhm, excuse me] that find something popular that people don't like and just, kind of talk about it and make jokes and say how bad it is. We want to talk about things that we like. So that's why we kind of called it quality culture,

00:35:28.480 - 00:35:41.470

saying things that we think is good, that we enjoy, that deserves to be discussed. And I think that's the big idea we want to push forward with the channel, and the videos we make, obviously, is from our perspective.

00:35:41.470 - 00:35:58.990

And, you know, we're gathering our sources when we do research. But the idea is to really dissect media that reflects something about our culture, because regardless of how abstract or small scale

00:35:58.990 - 00:36:16.300

it is, it does say something about our own experiences when we watch it, when we read it, when we listen, we apply it to our own world. We apply it to how we see things, how we think other people see things, and it's all reflective of experiences shared.

00:36:16.300 - 00:36:32.860

Or maybe just someone is having this experience and it's eye opening. So, I think that's just the big idea. We want to really embrace the things we enjoy, and break open as much detail and understanding

00:36:32.860 - 00:36:47.800

as we can for it. Yeah, that's great, and I'm very excited to see what's for- what's to come for the Quality Culture Channel. And so kind of shifting gears to the next section of questions,

00:36:47.800 - 00:37:02.710

I'll be asking you a few questions about, you know, your Asian American identity and how that interacts with your career. So, how do you think your identity as an Asian American influences your teaching and your approach to your overall career?

00:37:04.120 - 00:37:18.850

So when it comes to teaching, it's kind of funny because a lot of the students, if they're not my student yet, they might think that I'm not an English teacher. They think I'm a math teacher or, like, the the science teacher or something

00:37:18.850 - 00:37:33.460

like that. And I guess I get it because that's just the trope. But I do like the fact that I can be an Asian American man teaching English class to them. And not to say there's like a stigma or anything,

00:37:33.460 - 00:37:51.430

but it's just that Asian Americans are also proficient in English as well. Yes, we're good at math and science, but we can also be here with using our words because we speak English too. When it comes to that, I guess I also have a young face.

00:37:51.430 - 00:38:05.410

So they always think that I have just an Asian student, sometimes depending on how I dress a certain day. So there's that. But it really mostly I find it personally fulfilling just to be, I guess, a positive,

00:38:05.410 - 00:38:19.170

strong Asian man in their lives. But yeah, that that part tickles me a little bit. But it's fun to think that I can kind of expand our understanding of, like, oh, Asian American men are also people who like to talk and

00:38:19.170 - 00:38:33.570

write. Yeah. For sure. And that's a perfect segway into my next question, because what is your view on how Asian Americans are regarded in the American education system in regards to ideas like, you know,

00:38:33.600 - 00:38:50.370

model minority and all those perceptions? Oh, yeah, yeah. So I think that's all a part of it. The model minority label kind of is thrust upon a lot of students and faculty.

00:38:50.400 - 00:39:08.040

We assume that they have to be very good with numbers and that they're all very studious. And it's so ingrained that it's hard to--- it's easy to forget that we, as Asians or Asian Americans ourselves, also hold these beliefs, whether we realize it or not.

00:39:08.040 - 00:39:22.290

Sometimes it's subconscious like an Asian American student might be struggling a little bit, I think he's okay, he can figure it out or something. And I have to actively remember, like, no, that's just a perception I'm holding.

00:39:22.290 - 00:39:36.720

I have to be active and thinking critically about every student. So that label gets applied to everyone and even ourselves, we see it too. So for myself, I like being somebody that can express my

00:39:36.720 - 00:39:50.640

personality in school so they can see that, oh, Mr. Tran has a lot of things going on. He's not just our teacher, he's not only thinking about school. Yes, he cares about education, but he cares about a bunch of other stuff

00:39:50.640 - 00:40:05.040

too. So, I like being a presence where I can expand their understanding of that to where maybe one day in their subconscious, it's like, well, when they meet some Asian American person, they won't just expect them to be a book smart.

00:40:05.040 - 00:40:22.870

They can also expect them to be like that teacher they had one time in high school. Yeah, for sure. I think it's really important to recognize, you know, the perception not only we don't only receive the perception from other people, but we can only, you know, we can also put it on ourselves.

00:40:22.870 - 00:40:40.030

So, yeah, thank you for your answer. And my next question is, what is your view on how Asian Americans are received and portrayed in the American or just the worldwide media scene? And how would you evaluate the Asian American representation in the current YouTube

00:40:40.030 - 00:40:57.730

community and just the general social media scene? I think it's been evolving for a lot of different reasons lately. The model minority thing is still real. I think people still expect that, but now it is branching out to

00:40:57.760 - 00:41:14.640

where the--the--the American ecosystem, we kind of embrace international things more so things like K-pop, which I think is not exactly the same as Asian American, but it's still applied to us, so it's fine.

00:41:14.670 - 00:41:31.290

It kind of expands everyone's appreciation and understanding of what Asian people are like. So, with that and the rise of things like anime, there's a different level of appreciation to where the model minority myth isn't the only thing applied.

00:41:31.320 - 00:41:46.680

Now, there's a lot of different things that bring us together because of that, I think there's an expanding appreciation for Asian people and what we can do. So when it comes to things like YouTube, which has always had Asian people since the beginning,

00:41:46.680 - 00:42:02.640

I think very prominently actually, we can kind of see that it has the Asian people can do things that are unrelated to their Asian-ness. I can talk about movies or whatever, maybe someone else is doing skits or something,

00:42:02.640 - 00:42:15.390

and it doesn't have to really focus on our Asian-ness. Where before I think that was sort of an inherent part of it, there was like, oh, isn't the Asian guy doing this? This Asian woman doing this?

00:42:15.420 - 00:42:29.940

It's very paired with our personality. Not to say that it's something separate, but it was like the the big part that we always had to acknowledge. So, I feel like now we can kind of expand a little more

00:42:29.970 - 00:42:43.310

beyond just our ethnicity. Yeah, for sure. I think for me too, I really feel, like, I witnessed that expansion, like, every day on a daily basis. So I think it's really good.

00:42:43.310 - 00:43:00.420

[TT: laughs] And then my next question is, do you have any special approaches, mindsets or just perspectives that you implement when you analyze media involving Asian American figures? What's interesting about the media with Asian Americans is that there's

00:43:00.450 - 00:43:17.040

sort of this is something I'm going to be writing about, so I'm going to say that a lot. But a cyclical nature about it. And what I mean is that there's always a pressure to get it right. So if there's something like Crazy Rich Asians,

00:43:17.040 - 00:43:29.640

it'll be celebrated for being one of the few movies with all Asians with an all Asian cast. And then eventually someone will be like, well, if it's supposed to be a celebration of Asians, why is it just East Asians?

00:43:29.640 - 00:43:45.420

Why is it just Chinese people? And then there's this really difficult-to-grasp understanding of what it even means to be Asian American, because we can be from our family origins can be from different

00:43:45.420 - 00:43:57.360

countries, countries that might even hate each other, or maybe are just so dissimilar from each other. It's hard to identify with each other. But for example, a Japanese-centered

00:43:57.360 - 00:44:14.870

story will be overall said to be an Asian thing to when someone who's from India or their family from India would maybe not feel quite as attached to that. So I find that really fascinating, because that's not something that's

00:44:14.870 - 00:44:32.150

just a 2024 thing, that's been around since the beginning of when Asian Americans were coined. Yeah, for sure. That's very interesting to consider. My next set of questions will be about your identity.

00:44:32.360 - 00:44:48.800

So my first question is, what does your Vietnamese heritage mean to you? I had, like, a long time to think about that just because when I was a kid, I didn't think

00:44:48.800 - 00:45:05.510

about it that hard, and I kind of just wanted to be normal. And at that time, that just meant not being so ethnically different. So, obviously, I learned I was speaking English all the time, but my first language when I was a baby or a

00:45:05.510 - 00:45:19.460

child was Vietnamese. Now I could speak it okay, but it's not great anymore, so it kind of flipped. But when it comes to my identity as a Vietnamese man, I kind of struggle with it because when I was growing up,

00:45:19.460 - 00:45:36.110

I really just didn't want to be different, I didn't want that to be a factor at all. So, the model minority stuff, whether I knew, consciously knew about it or not, was something I always tried to go against. And that kind of informed my interest growing up.

00:45:36.110 - 00:45:52.670

But now I kind of regret pushing that aside, because I do feel a little lost in my connection to my heritage. My language is not super strong. I can speak it okay, but I don't feel like I understand all the beats of the

00:45:52.670 - 00:46:12.170

culture, like I haven't been to Vietnam and things of that nature. So I think that's a very universal feeling for a lot of Asian Americans just see-seeing and feeling a disconnect with your culture. So that's something that I'm dealing with now and honestly is kind

00:46:12.170 - 00:46:30.350

of the inspiration for these videos I've been doing lately about Asian American experiences is just even exploring my own relationship and disconnection with my Vietnamese heritage. Yeah, for sure. And I was discussing this a little bit with Dr.

00:46:30.350 - 00:46:47.210

Chao in regards to the movie the Joy Luck Club, but how do you view your own family's dynamics against the more stereotypical Western perception of Asian families? So I think the stereotypical view is

00:46:47.210 - 00:47:04.190

usually of China or Japan, and maybe it's changed over the years just because time has passed. But my family came from Vietnam, obviously, and and during a time with extreme war and hardships happening.

00:47:04.190 - 00:47:21.230

So, both my parents were refugees and came here through really tough circumstances. And when it comes to the perception of that, I think there's just an idea that it's similar to being Chinese or something

00:47:21.260 - 00:47:35.060

along that nature of just a general East Asian culture. And while there's a lot of intersection for me personally with Vietnamese culture, there are differences. And I don't think most people appreciate or really,

00:47:35.210 - 00:47:53.540

really, really understand that Vietnam shares a lot of cultural things with China, but very much does not like China. So, calling someone who's Vietnamese "Chinese" is, I wouldn't say offensive because I don't really associate with,

00:47:53.570 - 00:48:09.730

you know, a mainland ideas, but it's not really appropriate because of how much history there is between those two countries. And so that's something I just find interesting because, you know, you're kind of grouped together with all these people who you may or may not

00:48:09.730 - 00:48:23.440

have dicey historical relationships with. Right. For sure. I think it's really important to be mindful of those, you know, historical factors and how they impact, interactions on a daily basis.

00:48:23.470 - 00:48:38.620

So my next question is, are there any extracurricular activities like sports organizations or religion that you enjoy engaging in? Yeah. Obviously every year I--I set off

00:48:38.620 - 00:48:52.240

my New Year's resolution to work out more. But I enjoy playing basketball, whether I'm good at it or not. I used to play football, but it's just a lot harder to get that many people together. I like being active if I can.

00:48:52.330 - 00:49:06.430

It really is good for my health, but the big things I enjoy doing are kind of related to the channel. I love watching TV, enjoying the stories, I think I'm watching Shogun, most recently, is very cool.

00:49:06.670 - 00:49:23.110

I have-I got a movie pass this year, so I'm trying to enjoy the theater experience more because back in my college days, a long time ago, I was just on my menace time, just going almost every day by myself to the theater just to watch movies.

00:49:23.140 - 00:49:38.230

Looking back, I don't know why, but I do that. I really, I enjoy a lot of things that I want to incorporate into the channel, but who knows if it makes sense. Like, I am very into football and basketball watching it as well.

00:49:38.230 - 00:49:50.320

So, I listen to podcast about it, all the analytics. And then one thing that people don't know I'm really into is pro wrestling. It's it's stupid and weird, but I like it.[TT: Laughing.]

00:49:52.270 - 00:50:12.010

Yeah. That's great that you enjoy such a wide range of activities. My next question is, what do you feel the most proud of? The most proud of? That's hard to say. I think, I'm most proud of is, it's usually when

00:50:12.010 - 00:50:27.550

I can see the results of it or the appreciation of it, but just I'm most proud of when people--- I can influence someone and give them a new perspective on something. Because my main idea in my job as

00:50:27.550 - 00:50:45.430

a teacher, educator, and a content creator, I don't find the most satisfaction in just informing you or trying to tell you to think the way I do. But I really, really take pride in showing different perspectives just to give an understanding of things.

00:50:45.430 - 00:51:00.280

And I--I really am proud of when students or someone, a stranger on YouTube is just like, I never thought about it like that, and now I see it differently. And that's something I really take pride in.

00:51:01.150 - 00:51:15.760

Yeah, for sure. I can totally see how rewarding that would be. And the next question is, how do you want to be remembered? Whether that's, you know, as a friend, mentor, content creator or in any other roles.

00:51:18.040 - 00:51:36.520

For me, I only think about being remembered by people I interact with personally and have a real relationship with. So, on an everyday level with my friends and family and even students at school, I would just want to be remembered as someone

00:51:36.520 - 00:51:52.030

who was considerate and they felt like they wouldn't be judged by what they tell me, even if I have my own ideas on it. I want to be supportive and someone that is a positive influence, obviously, as corny as that is.

00:51:52.120 - 00:52:07.930

I really like just being somebody, I guess, a source for somebody to be like, you know, Mr. Tran or Terrence, whoever, whether they liked me or not,

00:52:07.960 - 00:52:26.830

whether they agreed with me, they really they--they spoke to me and they saw me with an open heart at all times and was genuine. When it comes to YouTube, I really just want to be someone that can provide a nuanced perspective, because when it comes to

00:52:26.860 - 00:52:44.020

the internet, something I've grown to dislike strongly is, one: misinformation, but two: really broad statements. Whether I agree with them or not, I just have really found it distasteful

00:52:44.020 - 00:52:59.550

to make sweeping generalizations when, you know, there's so many of us in the world with so many different views, there's wrinkles to them, little differences that need to be discussed and understood as best as they can.

00:52:59.580 - 00:53:12.630

And so that's the main thing I would want from my internet career, so to speak, to be about, just providing as much nuance- nuance as I can. Yeah. Thank you so much for your response.

00:53:12.630 - 00:53:27.750

And the next question is when and where do you feel the most at home or that you truly belong? Mm. When and where? Well, in a literal sense, my actual home.

00:53:27.750 - 00:53:43.830

I love being home. But where I truly belong, that's tough to say. I think there's really no physical place, it's just with, friends and family who I feel like are---who genuinely

00:53:43.830 - 00:53:58.860

care and love for me. And that anywhere we are together feels like home. As corny and cheesy as that is. Yeah, it's very true, people are your homes. Yeah. All right, so moving on to the last section of the interview.

00:53:59.100 - 00:54:16.860

This section will be about, you know, advice for future generations. So, what are your hopes for the next few decades within like the YouTube or social media culture and community? Um, so my hopes for the future community.

00:54:16.890 - 00:54:33.660

Well, could you could you repeat the question one more time? Yeah. For sure. What are your hopes for the next few decades within the YouTube or social media culture and community? Mm. Okay. I hope for the future of these communities

00:54:33.690 - 00:54:54.150

is that, it will---there would be a focus on really considerate thoughts and ideas and discussions rather than aggregated, um, sort of inflammatory statements and visuals that are only meant to or

00:54:54.150 - 00:55:11.520

mainly meant to grab our attention, rather than to make us really digest ideas and consider them for ourselves. Because I--I liked when I was younger, I was on the internet a lot as well, and I really enjoyed that time of just the

00:55:11.520 - 00:55:23.250

Wild West element of it. There was no algorithm; it was mostly just if it's there, it's there, and you can take it as you will. And now it feels like everything is tailored for you.

00:55:23.250 - 00:55:38.550

And that's good to keep our eyes, but it's not good to me for us to grow in our understanding of the world. And that's just something I would much prefer online spaces be about just sharing different ideas.

00:55:38.550 - 00:55:53.640

And whether we like them or not, we can really understand them rather than already having inflammatory statements about something, when you're just finding out about it. I see. Thank you for your response.

00:55:53.640 - 00:56:10.440

And my next question is, do you have any advice for Asian American students in general, and also for those who are hoping to pursue a career in teaching or content creation? So for Asian American students, I think for them,

00:56:10.890 - 00:56:27.810

I would just say that if they want to pursue education or even a YouTube, I think nowadays is it's always going to be better than it was before. Every day, whether we realize or not is a step forward,

00:56:27.810 - 00:56:42.780

whether it's minuscule or not. So, I genuinely think there's nothing that's stopping them from pursuing whatever career they want, they just have to push for it. They just have to, like, really give it everything they have.

00:56:43.080 - 00:56:58.440

When it comes to the students, I already know that students, if they genuinely care for something, they can do it. And so in that way, I'm an optimist. I really do think today was better than yesterday,

00:56:58.440 - 00:57:09.900

and ten years ago would be better than today. And in those ten years, who knows what can happen cause things can change so much. So, I see all of them as having a future as bright as they want.

00:57:09.930 - 00:57:22.170

They just have to light the candle. Oh, I like that line. You should write it down. [TT: Yeah. Yeah.] But yeah. And then, if you had the power to make

00:57:22.170 - 00:57:36.990

change in society, what would be on the top of your list? To change society. Is this, like, a government question, or is it just, like, a people, people thing? It could be anything.

00:57:38.280 - 00:57:53.750

I guess I would---if I could change anything, I would change people's indifference. I would rather people care more. Nothing makes me more annoyed, disappointed,

00:57:53.750 - 00:58:08.300

sad, angry is when people say, I don't know, I don't care because they're not thinking about it. I think if we really, really, like, genuinely cared about things more, the world would improve much quicker.

00:58:09.890 - 00:58:26.810

Yeah. For sure. I very much agree with that. And then for the very last question, if you could go back in time and give a piece of advice to your younger self, what would it be? If I can give a piece of advice to my younger self,

00:58:27.200 - 00:58:45.080

I think I would just say: don't worry so much about fitting in. Because I think for me personally, that--that still informs me now to a certain extent, but it just clouded my ability to

00:58:45.120 - 00:59:01.020

embrace life with things I genuinely enjoyed or genuinely would appreciate, such as my own culture and family and even things that made me actually happy. I think it would be better if I just was able to be in the

00:59:01.020 - 00:59:16.770

moment and just genuinely cared about what I actually wanted, rather than thinking about what other people would think about me if I do X, Y, and Z. Yeah. For sure. Those are all the questions that I prepared,

00:59:16.770 - 00:59:32.760

but did you have anything that you wanted to add on or? I don't know if I have anything else to add on, but, yeah, I think just for Asian Americans, I think I can see in ten, 20 years looking back at this and saying,

00:59:32.760 - 00:59:44.880

this is such like a a foreign experience to what Asian Americans decades from now will experience, which will be great. And I'm looking forward to that day as well. Yeah, for sure. All right.