OK ... my 2 cents of thought:
Asian Americans in general face enormous social pressure to succeed. Especially the East Asian groups like Chinese and Koreans, whose families place the most emphasis on academic success and job success. And the model minority stereotype trickles down to all the other Asian groups like the Filipinos, Cambodians, Laotians, etc.
Imagine you're a refugee Cambodian kid and then trust into a new environment. Even though your English is poor and your education background was almost zilch since you probably couldn't even attend grade school in Cambodia. Your family was worrying about finding food to eat and watching others die around them (already a traumatic experience)... and then boom, suddenly you have to adjust to a new school in America with all these high-achieving Chinese and Korean kids whose parents pushed them to get into Harvard ever since they could crawl. It's like 2 separate worlds. So yeah, that's prime territory for some serious mental problems later on in life.
And one thing I've noticed is that the high-achieving Asian females in particular (and I mean the ones accustomed to success all their lives) are the ones who are hit the most when they don't reach their target. So if they fail to get into their university of choice or get that job promotion, relationships or whatever... it's like their life falls apart before their very eyes.
I don't know why this is... perhaps we females in general are more judgemental on themselves than guys? Because we are used to being judged... for instance, on beauty. So they're more conscious of their appearance and how they appear to others around them. For Asian females, that extends to not only beauty but academic, relationships and career achievement. So anything less than the best will make them feel inadequate to others around them.
I hope my 2 cents of thought made sense. :smile:
PS. Eventhough I succeed or not in my future endeavours I am not going to waste my time thinking these crazy stuff, I was raised by my parents well and taught me that in order to move on is to look ahead and let the footprints of the past be blown by the wind of time.