Stevens’s Asian student associations kicked off Asian Pacific Islander Desi American (APIDA) Heritage Month last week with a celebration hosted in Bissinger. With food catered by local Asian restaurants and music from APIDA artists, the event was a unique chance for students to connect with and share their heritage while fostering a strong community.
This event was organized by the Office of Undergraduate Student Life, and support came from many Asian-led student organizations and fraternities, as well as the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Belonging, and Accessibility (DEIBA) Committee of the SGA. The celebration featured a keynote from Amy Yip, life coach and author of Unfinished Business: Breaking Down the Great Wall Between Adult Child and Immigrant Parents. Her speech explored the roots of generational trauma and how it shapes both personal and professional growth, emphasizing the role of empathy in the healing process.
Before becoming a life coach, Yip spent years building a thriving career at several well-established companies. She later went on to hold a leadership position at Google. In her speech, Yip told the story of how she left her job and moved to Ghana with her husband to do volunteer work, hiding these actions from her parents until she was caught.
Now as a coach, she sees the same pattern in clients from immigrant families, as many of them either rebel against their parents to pursue their dreams or stifle them until their parents are no longer in their lives to object. The lack of honest dialogue between immigrant parents and their children, Yip argues, is what keeps so many trapped in lives of quiet compromise, broadening the divide between generations and perpetuating cycles of resentment and regret.
Amy’s speech explored how trauma extends beyond emotions, influencing both biological and developmental pathways that can be passed down through generations. For example, research shows that mothers directly affected by 9/11 gave birth to children with abnormally low cortisol levels, a stress hormone deficiency that can disrupt healthy stress responses later in life. Developmentally, she explained that individuals exposed to repeated trauma often adopt one of three coping strategies: emotional numbing, victimization, or hyper-aggression (fighting). These adaptive responses can persist throughout adulthood, shaping how individuals navigate relationships, process emotions, and interact with the world around them.
Growing up, Yip was taught to keep her head down, work hard, and not show too much of herself. Emotions were tucked away, and she built an armor to protect the parts of her that didn’t feel safe to share. As an individual contributor, this served her well—she stayed under the radar, delivered results, and avoided drawing attention. But when she stepped into leadership, that same armor became a barrier. While her own team functioned well, colleagues from other departments perceived her as distant, prompting her to realize that leading requires more than execution—it required connection, vulnerability, and the willingness to be seen and heard. Learning to unlearn that instinct became a turning point in her personal and professional growth.
Amy’s book on generational healing breaks down eight personal myths—assumptions she held about her parents’ expectations and her role as a daughter. These weren’t universal truths, but deeply rooted beliefs she developed over time. Through self-reflection and storytelling, she unpacks how those narratives took shape, and how understanding her parents’ own histories helped her move past the guilt and fear she once carried. In her talk, she described the hard but necessary conversations she had with her parents—moments that were uncomfortable, emotional, and sometimes painful, but ultimately helped bridge the gap between their experiences. That perspective helped her draw healthier boundaries and reconnect with her family from a place of empathy.
Those who attended this celebration got to not only immerse themselves in APIDA culture but also get a sense of the level of vulnerability needed to heal from the pains of the past. Kurt Festin, Public Relations Chair of the Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers (SASE), led the side chat with Amy following the speech, and the questions he and other attendees asked provided further insight into aspects of generational healing.
“To me, intergenerational healing is a long, imperfect process requiring empathy in the conversation. This healing leads to a stronger, more purposeful connection with your family and culture,” Festin said. With lessons of patience and understanding, there was a lot to take away from Amy’s speech, and there is much to learn from her book as well. She closed her speech with the quote: “As you claim your generational wounds, don’t forget to claim your generational strengths”.
