Mixed Bowl: The Podcast

"I'm from Hong Kong, but, you see, I'm not exactly originated from China, I'm more of a third culture kid. That's what they're called these days. Basically, they're people whose parents come from a different country who migrate to another different country, and then they are born there... Not being able to fit in is not exactly a bad thing, because it makes you very adaptable. It gives me a very unique perspective on life. It doesn't require me to take very strong left or right, black or white, political stances. It allows me to be a bit of an observer. The best way I would call it, is being rooted in the winds. You have a ground somewhere, but this ground is always moving, but you always keep yourself. It's very important not to lose it." - Lorenzo Ponce "I'm from Venezuela, from Caracas, the capital. You basically live in a cage. My parents in Caracas create these walls trying to protect you, but at the same time these walls keep you from living a normal life. There are many things you guys would take for granted that we don't. As simple as going for a walk. We can't do that back home. The thing is, I don't picture myself living anywhere but Caracas. Despite everything. Yes, it's the most dangerous city in the world. Yes, there's an economic crisis. Yes, there are lines at the supermarkets to get food. Despite all of that, that's still my home and I feel like I'm really rooted in all of Caracas." - Ricci Zaragoza

"The capacity to listen... this is something that you might take for granted, but most people don't know how to listen. More often than not you talk to somebody and you realize that in the meantime, this person is thinking of the next argument they are going to bring across... without having listened to what you have to say. So more often than not you find two people saying the same thing, like ten times, because they are not listening to each other. Everyone wants to bring up their own point of view without listening."

On Syrian Refugee Crisis:

"I think it is also a huge problem and I think that we as a country should help, but not in the way that we are helping now. Because in Portugal they are offering houses, jobs, and everything to these families and we have families in Portugal that also need this kind of help but don't get it. I don't know what is the best way, but I don't think that this is the best way."

“I’m from Porto, Portugal… in my master’s program we received an exchange student from Namibia. All of the classes beforehand were in Portuguese, but because of her they were given in English, so everyone could understand and so she could adapt.”

What are your first thoughts when someone says, "What are you Meghan?"

"I would say, 'What are you?!'... I'm a very sarcastic person so I would probably be like, 'A human being... a person.' Then I would be like, 'Just kidding, I'm black and white!'"

"I'm not sure if you're familiar with the singer Azealia Banks, but she came out with this song, and I believe I was in 10th grade going to 11th grade, and it's called Liquorice. And it was the first time I ever saw a dark-skinned, brown-skinned, female artist, talk about her skin color and love it and embrace it. She associates her skin color with black liquorice. It was an influx of self-love. And I just thought it was so cool and so empowering and then I started realizing... hey, I'm really cool, I love my skin color, I love being a black girl, I love all these things about me that society has told me not to like. And I think that's where I gained this strength over time... I didn't always look at why is it that people value light-skin over dark-skin, why is it that people value curly hair over kinky hair. And then I started understanding those things more and understanding, well those girls probably didn't hate me specifically, but they've been taught to hate me because society pits us against each other."

"My parents both worked so we had a nanny that lived with us. So I kind of grew up with three parents... A lot of white people were never conscious of race, but I've been conscious of race. My friends all thought my mom was black basically, because she was just around so much, she was the one who would take me to school, pick me up. I think that definitely had a huge impact on how I see things... I'll never forget the time when I moved to the Bay Area. Probably a few months in we lived in a gated community and they wouldn't let my nanny in, even though she was driving the car that had the pass to get in, she couldn't get in. The guard was just like, 'Yeah, I don't think that you live here' to my nanny."

"Self-segregation. That's my favorite concept that I learned in college that has just a lot of meaning to me. We're not being forced into these different groups... it's more like the structure of USC makes you feel as if you have to fit into one place and only one place."

"My roommate is black and he's my best friend now... from Nigeria and Atlanta. He opened my eyes to how little of a thing race should be. He and I will talk about it sometimes, how we both find it really stupid what race determines people."

"I’m in a frat and one of the things I notice is that gangs and frats are very similar. And the reason being is that both are territorial. They believe in brotherhood. They have a certain set of initiations. But the difference is that gang members have guns and frat boys don’t. Frat boys will fight you and call you a pussy if you don’t fight back, but gangs take it differently… They both do the same thing. They party the same. They listen to the same music. It’s pretty insane. Literally the only difference is the guns."