On the auspicious day of August 8, 2015, Stephanie Lin was crowned Miss Asian America at the pageant held in San Francisco. As a member of our TAP family, Stephanie graciously gives us an insider look into her achievement and what she hopes to accomplish as the first Taiwanese American to earn this title.
Think back to 2013, TACL’s National Convention in San Francisco when Stephanie was introduced as the next TAP-SF President. Can you remember who sat at your banquet table? Sitting at Stephanie’s table was the Miss Asian America pageant founder, Rose Chung. After meeting that night, Stephanie and Rose remained in touch throughout her presidency. Earlier this year, Rose invites Stephanie to the Miss Asian Global launch party where Stephanie meets former contestants and pageant organizers and was compelled to apply. The pageant showcases Asian American intellect and talent in a very unique way. All delegates are required to champion a social platform and have a proven track record of giving back to the community. Stephanie states,
“I knew that participating in the Miss Asian America pageant would not only be a special experience, but a valuable channel to broadcast a cause I care deeply about, which is promoting women in STEM.”
When Stephanie announced her participation in the pageant, the connections she made as former TAP-SF President rallied to support her, including Teddy Liaw (founder of GLO), Jason Lin (original TAP-SF leadership), Kevin Lin (COO of Twitch), Stephanie Chuang (NBC Bay Area Reporter), Ho Chie Tsai (founder of TaiwaneseAmerican.org), Stephanie Sung (current TAP-SF President), and many more.
At a pageant where each contestant is showcasing the best of their own cultures, you might wonder how Taiwanese Americans differ from other Asian Americans. Stephanie felt that the Ethnic Costume segment of the competition was where she saw the biggest difference. Compared to the other looks, her outfit looked very tribal. Stephanie worked with a Taiwanese aborigine to design an authentic Paiwan tribe princess dress, embellished with real boar tusk, shell, and eagle feathers. She remembers that,
“It felt awesome to rock such a beautiful garment true to Taiwanese culture on a global stage.”
In her role as Miss Asian America, Stephanie represents the Asian American community at a wide variety of cultural events. Additionally, she is working on programming ideas that focus on retaining women in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) and strengthening the pipeline for more female talent to enter the STEM fields.
Perhaps an equally challenging task is fighting the Model Minority theory, a stereotype that Stephanie feels the community can work to dispel through education. She tells me that a recent study by the University of Texas found that 33% of Asian Americans drop out of high school or don’t graduate on time. Asian American students are more likely than white students to experience difficulties with stress, but are less likely to seek counseling. Nearly 12% of Asian Americans live below the poverty line. She continues,
“We are a diverse group of people, with unique experiences that craft who we are as individuals. We cannot allow ourselves to be bound by stereotypes. We must encourage our youth to pursue opportunities that truly fulfill their aspirations, and motivate parents to teach their children to strive for their personal best, rather than aim for perfection. And we must speak up against those who continue to reinforce the notion of the Model Minority.”
There’s a new hashtag trending called #MyAsianAmericanStory, a Twitter conversation started by 15-year old Jason Fong in response to Jeb Bush’s comment about Asian “anchor babies”. Stephanie’s contribution to that dialogue sounds like this.
Being the only Asian American female leader in a meeting and wondering when we can finally see true gender parity and diversity in the workplace #MyAsianAmericanStory
We hope that Stephanie’s story has been an inspiration to the Taiwanese American community. As for her legacy,
“I’d like to be remembered not only as the first Taiwanese American Miss Asian America, but as a woman who made a consequential impact on behalf of her gender and her ethnicity. I recognize the responsibility that comes with the title and I welcome opportunities to discuss how we can help champion the Taiwanese American community and uplift women.”
We encourage you to engage with her on Twitter (@theSlinShady), Instagram (@theSlinShady), and Facebook (http://fb.com/TheRealSlinShady).