“Ever since I took up journaling my freshman year of high school, I have learned that the simple act of putting words on paper slows my thoughts down and elevates me from instinctive emotional responses to more intentional reflections,” writes Tracy Yuan ’22 in Accent, a magazine published this year by the  Asian Student Union. Accent shares stories and reflections  of the Asian and Asian-American students at St. Andrew’s.

Printed works have a way of also helping the reader to slow down and relish in a story, which was the goal behind creating Accent, explains its creator and editor April Seo ’22. In past years, ASU has produced online collections of creative work by Asian and Asian-American students at SAS, often in celebration of Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month in May. This year, April was inspired by Slant’d, an independent print magazine that features art and writing by Asian-Americans.

“The hardest part was gathering submissions from students from diverse backgrounds,” said April, who worked with six other members of the Asian Student Union and 11 contributors to bring this new print publication to life.

While April started out with a vision for a magazine similar to what she had seen in Slant’d, as the submissions came in, she was inspired by what her peers shared, and found her own design style for the magazine. 

For example, in his piece, Chapel Talk, Pranay Sanwal ’22 shares: “It was the year 2002. Around seven families of Indian doctors had recently moved to the world-famous town of Lewes, Delaware … For a reason beyond my comprehension, my individual consciousness was attached to one of the bodies in creation.”

Pranay talks about growing up with an extended Indian family—a group that has helped to deepen his cultural identity and given him support during tough times.

“I still have a long journey ahead of me,” Pranay writes. “I will meet people who have no perception of my existence … I want them to view the undefined persona of a being who is in a state of constant adaptation.”

In her poem, Things I Want to Tell my Grandparents, Sophie Mo ’23 writes of her struggle to stay connected with grandparents who live overseas.

“and I’m sorry I’m not good.

at Chinese, at talking to you…

when you haven’t seen my face in years

or heard my voice in months

and yet continued stronger in embracing me

even after all this time

even after I struggled to speak to you

you still remember my voice you 

remembered.”

The stories, poems, essays, and artworks in Accent explore the experiences of Asian and Asian-American students at St. Andrew’s. While each story is fully its own, they speak to what makes a community and how we build identity within ourselves and with our families and each other.

“I hope that the publication can, first of all, create a space for Asian students to express themselves and share their culture with the wider community [at St. Andrew’s],” she said. 

April credits the Asian Student Union with helping her find her voice. In the beginning of her work on Accent, she explains that she “was insecure about opening up parts of [her] life to others,” but during her time at SAS, she learned to open up and sharing her own experiences.

“ASU definitely helped me to embrace being Asian and be proud of my heritage,” she said. 

ASU recommends the following films that offer perspectives on various Asian cultures (list compiled by Pranay Sanwal):

• World of Apu by Satyajit Ray
• Fallen Angels by War Kong Kai
• Close-Up by Abbas Kiarostami
• Pather Panchali by Satyajit Ray
• Yi Yi by Edward Yang
• The Wind Will Carry Us by Abbas Kiarostami
• Dreams by Akira Kurosawa
• A Brighter Summer Day by Edward Yang
• Taste of Cherry by Abbas Kiarostami
• Aparajito by Satyajit Ray
• Chungking Express by War Kong Wai
• An Autumn Afternoon by Yasujiro Ozu

Check out a copy of Accent at the St. Andrew’s Library.