Many of the homes — which belong to Asian American professionals who work largely in the medical field, for pharmaceutical companies and in consulting, among others — resemble those of a quintessential wealthy American suburb. There are high-end and luxury housing developments, home to mostly Asian Americans. But there’s also an embrace of cultures, the residents say. Families will hire a DJ and designate a street for a block party during some South Asian holidays. Barot, who moved into a newer housing development about five years ago, is one of many neighbors who successfully petitioned Neena Singh, a then-committeewoman who’s now the Montgomery Mayor, to get a cricket pitch built at one of the town’s parks two years ago. The sport has become an integral part of their weekends.
“They realized a new community is coming in. A lot of Indians and Asians are here. Cricket is one of the most popular sports, so they helped with infrastructure,” said Barot, vice-captain of the neighborhood’s team, the Country Club Estates (CCE) Warriors, who play in the New Jersey Soft Ball Cricket League.
“We feel as if we are still a kid,” Barot, who’s also a member of the town’s recreation committee, said of the games. “All the friends come together, so it really helps everyone’s mental well-being.”
For the area’s busy Asian American students, extracurriculars and sports like fencing, which is popular locally, fill their hours after school. Many of them additionally spend their Friday nights attending the Montgomery Hindi School, held at the upper middle school. Others take classes at the Huaxia Chinese School in the township, held at the same place on Saturdays. For many students, the language schools function as a sort of community or family.
“At our school, we don’t like parents to push their kids to come to our school. That’s not right. We just want to let kids study Chinese and have fun together, make friends, know the Chinese language and Chinese culture,” said George Lei, the 56-year-old principal of the Chinese school. “We don’t need everybody getting a 100 score. That’s not the goal.”
In search of academic opportunity
By and large, the pre-eminent factor uniting the Asian American families in the area is the nearby educational opportunities, every resident who spoke to NBC News said. Montgomery High School currently ranks 30th in the state and 556th nationally, according to U.S. News & World Report. William Zhang, a freshman at Rutgers University who grew up in Belle Mead and attended the local Chinese school, said his family moved to the area for those exact opportunities.
“I did often feel pressure to perform well in school. Not all of it came from my parents. Some of the pressure came from myself and the environment around me,” Zhang, who also runs a tutoring service, said. “Montgomery schools are known to have that academically competitive environment — in good and bad ways.”
Arkadiy Nepomnishy, who runs Taekwondo Elite, a popular studio in Belle Mead, similarly mentioned that most families are motivated by the high quality of education, hoping that the area’s high school will help their kids go to elite colleges. Many of the students head off to prestigious schools, including the Ivy Leagues.
“They’re really looking for academics. They want to give their kids a strong foundation. They all go to college,” Nepomnishy, 47, said. “My students — when they go to college, they say the first two years of college are not as hard [as the high school].”
While Asian Americans make up a majority in the hamlet, some said they still experienced a few brushes with racism. Nepomnishy said he’s had a few students approach him about some racist incidents at school. And Zhang said he’s also had unfortunate encounters here and there. But being surrounded by an Asian American majority has helped.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
