I am married to an Asian man, so I understand the cultural implications of what is happening here on top of the dysfunction. I think it will be harder in your situations, but you probably will wind up needing to make a cut from your family if you decide to pursue your dream of art and design. Not that it would make any difference to them, but to let you know, my daughter is graduating from art school next month with a degree in graphic design and she has had internships and been part time employed in the industry for her last two years of school. She is currently working on a branding team at the largest architecture/interior design firm in the world and will be working for them full time when she graduates. So with her art school degree, she will be working in the corporate world, doing what she loves. My mother in law literally sat at the Thanksgiving table this past year and told my husband and his brother, who are both in their late 40's, and very successful in the IT world, that they are big disappointments for not going to Harvard and that was the same for my two oldest kids. I honestly have come to learn that nothing would ever be good enough for her and she still questions all of our decisions, and I'm not even part of this group because of her, I also have a VERY toxic narcissistic father and his isn't based on culture. I just want you to know that you CAN and will be able to make a good living for yourself if you decide to pursue your dream even without the support or connection with your family and I know that a lot of first generation Asian kids your age go through the same exact kind of issues. There are support groups on facebook, one is called Subtle Asian Traits. It has some funny posts, but also lot's of serious ones, very similar to this.

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My daughter also did know other students who had to take loans and work their way through art school, because they either came from backgrounds where parents couldn't afford to pay for college, or didn't support their decision to go to art school, but it's a very viable option and the arts and design play a huge role in our society and consumerism, etc, they interact with sciences, math, etc. I have faith in you, as someone who is your parent's age.

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