I was lucky enough that my parents knew about World Cup skiing, so since I was really little, we were watching World Cup winning runs.
I didn't have a lot of skin care products when I was a kid - my parents were very au naturale - and I think I was about 9 years old when my girlfriend told me she used Biore. I was like, 'Hmm, never heard of it.' So my mom took me to the store, and I picked out five different things and have been literally using it ever since.
I never really had to put much thought into my race, and neither did anybody else. I knew I was black. I knew there was a history that accompanied my skin color, and my parents taught me to be proud of it. End of story.
Dropping the news to my parents that I was skipping my 'dream education' at Chalmers to sit at home recording videos while playing video games was not easy.
I love my parents so much. My day or night is not complete without talking to them - on Skype.
People don't think about the fact that when Barack Obama's parents had him - it was illegal for them to be married in several states in this country. So if we start making it okay that certain people can marry and other people can't, it's a slippery slope of civil rights. Who knows who is going to be allowed to marry or not marry next.
I used to run away to New York from Baltimore all the time. I would get on the Greyhound bus and tell my parents I was going to some sorority weekend... I'd even make up fake permission slips, come to New York, and just ask people on the street if I could stay with them and go see midnight movies.
I remember breaking the news to both my parents that I wanted to be a director, and they both looked very doubtful. They didn't know what a closet Hindi film buff I was. I used to dance to old Hindi films songs on the sly, so my decision to be a part of Hindi cinema was shocking even for my parents.
My parents paid me small amounts for cleaning my room or cleaning the dishes and stuff, but I never really had a real job before I started on my professional tennis career.
I grew up in a conservative household, my parents were small business owners, so it really just was kind of part of who we were.
My parents are small business owners, and the Korean community, like a lot of immigrant communities, is very much owner-driven.
It's not that parents expect a lot from their kids, except, maybe 5-10 minutes of time in a day spent on something as simple as small talk.
Elderly parents tend to think their relationship with their middle-aged children is smoother than the children do. Adult grandchildren, who have little stake in pulling away from their grandparents, tend to describe that relationship as less rose-colored than do Gram and Gramps.
I'd listen to the radio, especially when my parents were out on house calls to pray for people - you know, shut-ins. Sometimes, if we were incredibly sneaky, we could do it at night when everyone was asleep.
I watched a lot of soap operas like 'General Hospital' and 'Days Of Our Lives.' When it came to movies, my parents were quite strict. They would watch 'Flash Dance' but wouldn't let us see the whole film because Jennifer Beals' character was a stripper. It was so funny when I finally saw the whole film. I thought she was a ballerina!
I know how sobering and exhausting parenthood is. But the reality is that our children's future depends on us as parents. Because we know that the first years truly last forever.
And if we don't have a test, what we may end up doing is going back to what this country has done before. We could use social class and we still do, but in the 50s, it was, do you have the right last name and are your parents in privileged positions?
I don't need the new fan; I need the fan that has anxiety - parents are getting divorced, social problems, gender problems - I need them to come to the ultimate show, and they're going to get that at Knotfest.
It can literally change someone's life; it's very positive for young teenagers to get into cosplay if they do it with their friends or with supervision from their parents - it can really foster their social skills.
I just followed my parents' example and advice on living, which was to leave the world a better place than you found it. They were professional do-gooders, ministers of the church, social workers, teachers, and missionaries, that sort of thing.
