The month of May celebrates Asian American Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month. AANHPI is a wide-ranging term used to describe all cultures across the continent of Asia and the Pacific Islands of Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia – representing approximately 50 ethnic groups and 100 languages.
This month was specifically chosen to honor the first known Japanese immigrant to the U.S. (May 1843), as well as to acknowledge the tremendous contribution Chinese immigrants made in completing the transcontinental railroad (May 1869).
With this year’s monthly theme of “Advancing Leaders Through Innovation,” we hope to elevate visionaries and trailblazers who continue to shape the AANHPI legacy at The Bell.
Franchise Team Member Jordan S. joined Taco Bell (restaurant #016639) a year ago for a few different reasons!
“When I graduated high school, I decided to take a gap year and focus on making some money and working a job that would help me strengthen my people skills, including problem solving and learning better customer service tactics. At the same time, Taco Bell was a big part of my life growing up, as my family happened to be regulars at our local restaurant.”
As soon as Jordan joined the Taco Bell team, he was met with a warm, family-like atmosphere and many friendly faces. No matter what the days were like, Jordan found Taco Bell as a place of comfort very quickly. Now, almost a year later, Jordan is a proud $25,000 Taco Bell Foundation Live Más Scholar recipient and will be attending University of California, Irvine, in the fall, focusing on computer science with a minor in art or music.
P.S. Take a look at Jordan’s surprise unveil below:
“I developed my love for coding during the pandemic as I started learning the languages myself by reading books and researching the basics. At the same time, I decided to further my passion for producing music. I played the piano and saxophone for a while, but it was not until I found a video of someone making a song from scratch that got me inspired. Now, I like to make trap and lofi beats.”
Besides his musical background, Jordan gets inspiration from Korean R&B, a genre that he listens to on the daily. This is also one way he keeps in touch with his roots as a third generation Korean American.
“Both of my parents are second generation Korean Americans, meaning they were raised in the United States. I don’t really speak the language, but I still have aspects of my Korean heritage that I’ve taken on... thanks to my grandparents and extended family. This includes cultural happenings ranging from partaking in a traditional Buddhist ceremony, to listening to K- R&B.”
Jordan identifies as a third generation Korean American, and while he does not consider his upbringing traditional, he encourages others to embrace who they are!!
“I feel like I’ve had a more relaxed upbringing. My second-generation parents have taken what they’ve learned and passed on what matters the most. For example, I’ve learned that I should follow through with education but also pursue my passions. With my background, I have a little bit of everything, which has made life a little more colorful. So to other third generation kids, I say, be proud of who you are.”
When asked about his legacy, Jordan hopes for the following:
“Rather than being some amazing person myself, I want to be the reason why other people do something influential and ‘make it’. Maybe they want to create a product or do research in an area that’s never been done before, I want to help the people around me and make them realize what’s important to them in life and then encourage them to follow through with it.”