There have been so many experiences where I felt like I was marked. One that really sticks out is the constant ignorance that i recieved from the white teachers at the Catholic school that I attended. When I was little because my dad made math seem like the most important subject I was always ahead of the class. When I was in fourth grade my teacher put an algebra problem on the board. I will never forget it was a+5=10 and she asked us what was "a". I immediatley knew it was 5 because my father had already informed me of prolems similar to the one on the board. I vigrously raised my hand while shouting "I know,I know..." but my teacher did not even look my way erased the problem and stated the "its to hard for you guys".

Marked vs. Unmarked

Recently I experienced a situation where I felt marked. Last semester I was getting lunch with my dad at a pizza place in the Greenbelt Plaza. As soon as we walked in I felt almost out of place. When I looked around, there were very few other white people. I felt as though some people looked at us and were wondering why we were there. It was an eye opening experience, and now I get a sense of what other individuals experience who are in the minority. I really didn't mind being there, but there were a few times where I felt slightly awkward. I was marked as being white.

Marked v/s Unmarked

I first came to realize the concept of marked and unmarked while in high school. During junior year the school system likes to have university fairs so students can meet with different universities and find out more about them. But since the whole county comes it included socio-economic sectors that were complete opposite from mine. There were kids from lower class areas and this not a problem for me but for some reason especially the Hispanic kids began taunting me and even asking "how the hell a Hispanic, could be living in Potomac" or asking if I was too good to be around them. I have never found my self to be so defined as I was that day, I never really considered myself a Hispanic kid, but it just went to prove that I'm still living in a world that people notice marked and unmarked differences.

Marked vs. Unmarked

One occasion when i noticed that I was marked was my senior year of highschool. It was the end of the year so we were just in class talking about random stuff. Someone brought up the topic of favorite musical artists. I said "I like Alecia Keys" and people in the class started to look at me funny and make remarks like 'ewww' and roll their eyes. A girl in class was like "tania, thats enough" and I was confused like what was going on because no one elses comments ellicited such responses. I realized that they must have thought i meant that i 'liked liked' Alecia Keys, and that i was attracted to her. For a second i began to feel stupid, i felt like i should have remembered that I am a lesbain and because of that, i need to make it clear that im not a sexual predator and that my remarks were strictly relating to her music. but then i realized that i did nothing wrong but forget that i am 'different' and for some reason, the general rules of conversation dont apply to me. needless to say i was offended

Marked Vs. Unmarked

A lot of times people who don't know me very well or society, in general, will mark me as Asian or even chinese---even though im not even chinese. Because I look a certain way, people "mark" me by my race. Even though I am asian, I never try to go out of my way to differeniate myself from other people. I was born and raised in America my whole life, so if anything I am no different from any other American. But people tend to associate Americans as looking a certain way---and b/c I don't look that certain way---I have become marked.

Marked vs. Unmarked

I first realized I was marked/unmarked when applying for college and being asked my race/ethnicity. I am from a very homogeneous part of the country, New England, where it is assumed you are a white Anglo-Saxon protestant. Marking "white" on my college applications was the first time I had to define what I was. Of course I knew that I was not black or hispanic and have many friends who are not white, but this was the first time I had to definitively mark what race/ethnicity I am.