Considering his coursework (Environmental Science and Public Policy), extracurricular interests (afterschool tutoring, photography, martial arts), and summer jobs (intern at an NGO in Alaska and volunteer musical performer at hospitals) during his first few years of college, John would seem to be the least likely person to edit a collection of essays about Asian American identity. But like so many things in life, one small event or thought built upon another. Random conversations led to his involvement in a campus-wide effort to promote ethnic studies, which encouraged him to enroll in elective courses on Chinese Film and then Chinatowns. Soon enough, John had somehow combined many of his other interests with his burgeoning curiousity in Ethnic Studies: writing an anthropological study of big sib volunteers in Boston's Chinatown, conducting a photojournalistic project examinig ethnic minorities in rural China, performing in an Indian dance festival, and acting in a play about 60's era Asian American activists. Throughout these experiences, John discovered a growing appetite among many of his classmates to discuss the intersection of race, culture, and identity. These conversations, including one with his high school friend, Arar Han, would eventually lead to the publication of Asian American X.

Less than a year out of college, John is now working as a management consultant, and his recent projects have been with clients in the non-profit and public sectors. While he still thinks about collective identity and Asian American issues, John continues to learn about a variety of pressing current issues - from public education, feminism, and environmental sustainability to baseball, reality television, and vegetarianism. However, John remains extremely excited about the potential of Asian American X and hopes that it will help stimulate dialogue among all Americans around the evolving definition of what it means to be American. Though his future is by no means set, John's current plan is to remain at his job for another year or two before spending some time traveling through and working in a developing country, and perhaps eventually returning to school.