According to the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, for the 2024-2025 school year, 22.7% of all Brookline-enrolled students are Asian, making them the second-largest group in the district’s student racial demographic. Representing them in the Brookline Public Schools system is a single committee supported by the local government: the Brookline Asian American Family Network (BAAFN).

Since its inception in 2009, BAAFN has found its mission in supporting Asian and Asian-American families in the town’s public school system. From advocating for Lunar New Year to be recognized as a Category I holiday to bolstering the Asian-American representation on our library’s shelves, BAAFN has played key roles in many cultural shifts.

Throughout the pursuit of its mission, the organization has embedded an annual celebration of identity and expression into its agenda via the BAAFN Asian American Student Essay Contest. For the past decade, the competition has prompted Brookline students to reflect on what it means to be Asian American, offering cash prizes for the best pieces of writing. This year, two $500 and two $250 awards bring the total prize pool to $1,500. The submission deadline is Friday, March 7, with the award ceremony scheduled for Wednesday, May 14.

This year is special—it’s the competition’s 10th anniversary. The coordinators have decided to change the so-far untouched prompt to commemorate its significance. The new prompt: Being an Asian American, what is your superpower?

Choosing this prompt was purposeful, according to BAAFN co-chair Susan Park. Park said that in the past stories have tended to touch on poignant themes. While BAAFN encourages students to write with authenticity, Park said she aimed to foster more upbeat insights this time around.

“We were talking about this year and thinking about what we wanted the prompt to be, and I know I really wanted something positive,” Park said. “This time I wanted to hear, ‘What is your strength?’ because it’s really important that students, in their discovery and writing, also remember those things.”

For some, the authenticity is a part of what makes the contest so unique. Alumna Yutian Li ‘24, a two-time winner of the competition, said that the BAAFN essay contest gave her and other students a universal avenue to express themselves and process certain experiences.

“It was flexible enough that I could basically write about anything that had happened in my life that was remotely related to my Asian American identity,” Li said. “It was also creative enough where I could go outside the box a little bit and write whatever was on my mind.”

Winners like Li get their work published on BAAFN’s website for anyone to read. Li said she can recall the pride she felt when classmates would approach her and commend her for sharing such touching, intimate moments with the community. On a visit to Pierce School, her former middle school, Li said that she learned that teachers had even started using her essay as a lesson on race and discrimination within Brookline.

“It was really impactful for the kids to hear these stories and realize that they happened within their own home, within their own school,” Li said. “There’s a difference between being like, ‘There is racism, there is discrimination,’ and knowing in that said cafeteria they go to for lunch every day, a few years ago, there was a girl discriminated against.”

Senior Haley Kim, a winner of last year’s competition, has joined various affinity groups since coming to the high school. She said they encouraged her to reconnect with her Korean identity, and the BAAFN contest stuck out to her as an opportunity to do just that.

Furthermore, Kim said that the contest is a gateway into continued reflection on our identities, which leads to proper role-modeling for underclassmen.

“It’s really important to stay involved with people that have similar experiences as you,” Kim said. “As upperclassmen, thinking about how we can create an environment for underclassmen coming into the high school, it’s especially important to seek affinity groups so you can discover yourself and see how you fit in.”

Li, Park and Kim all said they encourage students to give the contest a try. They say there are benefits in not only writing and public speaking, but also in learning to navigate something as complex as cultural identity. According to Teresa Cheng, one of the earliest members of BAAFN and a founder of the contest, charting our identities is one of the most invaluable skills a teen can learn.

Cheng also said that the contest has another goal—to challenge stereotypes of Asian Americans in Brookline.

“In the town, many folks might have a certain perception of AAPI folks,” Cheng said. “We’re very quiet, we don’t speak up much, and this gives us some voice. We have feelings, we have thoughts, we can be creative and we’re exploring these topics.”