Inspirational By-Standers

              Bruce Lee was one of the greatest models in my life.  He inspired me to keep an open mind to everything around me and become aware of the surrounding obstacles in my life.  Although he died at such an early age, I believe he was able to express his will and exertion to the world.  As a famous actor and body builder, Bruce devoted his life in expanding the dogma of Kung-Fu.   His master, YIP-Man, taught him the perception of Wing Chun by detaching one’s mind from the struggles of the body and flow with the natural energy like water.  In America, his acting career struggled to incline due to his minority status.  Being a minority, I understand how he felt about being with other races and the standards that they place for you to live up to.  Bruce Lee’s quote “I'm not in this world to live up to your expectations and you're not in this world to live up to mine” enlightened me to understand that we all live to fulfill our duties and not fit our feet in other people’s shoes.  He lived to the age of 33 but his legacy still lives in the world today. 

          Jason Chen is an R&B and pop artist that sings music relative to how I feel.  He inspires my mood on what song is being played and digs into situations of my life.  Although many people do not know him, he is very influential in the Asian community of Youtube.  I view him as a successful artist who makes covers of famous American artists and Chinese artists.  In addition to his musical career, he writes his own music and openly expresses his feelings to the public through his songs.   There wouldn’t be any other musical artist that would know my feelings any better than Jason Chen.  When I first heard is cover for Just a Dream by Nelly, I instantly fell in love with his voice.  Majority of my friends, ex-girlfriends, and family have a link with one of his songs through my opinion.  Recently he wrote a song that I sung to my girlfriend during Christmas.  It was titled Snow Flakes and heavily represented the situation that my girlfriend and I went through on our first Christmas together.  She loved the lyrics and the whole day was a success thanks to Jason Chen, a talented minority living in America. 

         Goku, a legendary Super Saiyan, was created by Japanese artists for hit television series Dragon Ball Z.  He stars as a super human from outer space with overwhelming fighting abilities.  Goku represents as a character whom many Asians look up to as a hero.  When I look back on my first time watching Dragon Ball Z, it was very intriguing.  I compared Goku to Power Rangers whom children today see all the time on television.  Unlike the repetition of the storyline based on the Power Rangers, Goku undergoes transformations and battles loads of enemies like a good storyline should include.  By watching Dragon Ball Z throughout my entire childhood, I learned that determination and good makes a large impact on oneself.  By giving into the hate and darkness, it will consume the mind and cause panic or turmoil in the balance of the world.  There are many things that influence children but for me, Goku was more important than Pokemon, Digimon, Power Rangers, or any of those memorable television shows.  To travel the world instantly and protect the Earth from evil beings is a good enough of a hero as any. He isn’t for everyone but he’s my super hero.