The struggle for identity is universal. We all seek to find ourselves and to fulfill a niche in their society that they enjoy and of which they can be proud. Chinese Americans, unlike the rest of the American populace, have two polarized societies in which to find an identity. The struggle of Chinese Americans, therefore, has an extra dimension, to find a role that makes the individual happy and is respected by the two fundamentally different societies in which they live.

Asian Americans spend most of their time not spent at home interacting with others in the American society, rather than the Asian society. It is in this setting that they acquire most of their friends and is the place from is which is derived almost all of their non familial influence. The pressure and expectations in this society are a far cry from those at home, as...