Thread for successful Asian Americans: What does success really mean? Stellar GPA, test scores, shiny awards, Ivy League. I flunked out twice of the very university where I am a full professor. I was banned for ten years from returning as a student...

Now I've taught in every context you can imagine from Ivy Leagues themselves to prestigious liberal arts schools to community centers & jails and I won a decent collection of fancy awards. Here's what failure taught me: Your work is to be BETTER than institutions...

Your ancestors were BETTER than those institutions. Your IMAGINATION is BETTER than institutions. Not toward more wealth or more prestige... but toward more justice... and more care... and more love.

We clever enough to learn how to navigate school & the business world to get into a good university? Well, we ain't really smart until we can do that for ourselves, our families, AND for strangers...

You say, it's hard to apply those talents so that MANY people can survive and thrive? Yeah, it's hard. Individual achievement is hard. Collective non-exclusive survival —as you can see clearly from the news—is harder. This is the true test of our gifts...

If I apply my intellect to my own interests & can't apply them energetically & effectively for other people, then my intellect is limited. It is actually inferior to people who are thinking with & for others.

I know what #failure is. I failed the official path time & time again. Was called underachiever. But my slipping out (and willful refusal) of the system allowed me to see what else was possible, not the least of which was my relationship to my talents & other people.

Using one's imagination applied to the real world of government, health, infrastructure, work, faith, so that EVERYONE is fed, housed, has the means and time to rest, mourn, celebrate, reflect...

—that is a matter of high high intelligence. That is the standard we should hold ourselves to. It's a long time coming #Asianamerican #success #justice #blacklivesmatter #poc #imagination #mutualregard #convocation