Dr. Soo Kim Abboud, at the age of 32, already possesses an enviable resume. Abboud was a National Merit Finalist, graduated from the Krieger School of Arts & Sciences in 1994 with a B.A. in biology and membership in the Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society, and received her M.D. in 1998 from Hopkins Medical School. Today she is a head and neck surgeon at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and a clinical assistant professor of otolaryngology.
Oh, and there's one more thing. Abboud is also the co-author, with her sister Jane Y. Kim, of Top of the Class: How Asian Parents Raise High Achievers -- and How You Can Too. The book attempts to explain why Asian students excel in school and how other parents can raise their own academically successful children.
Abboud is a first-generation Korean American. While growing up in Raleigh, she and her sister observed similar experiences and views on education in other Asian American families. Years later, the Kim sisters came to the conclusion that the Asian culture and upbringing of children contain valuable keys to help parents raise a child who will succeed academically now and in the future.
"Surprisingly," Abboud said, "It was very easy to find a publisher for the book. We were very lucky." The Penguin Group, one of the leading publishers in the country, made them a first offer within a week of their agent looking for prospective publishers.
Even after the initial publication, Abboud and her sister were very lucky -- they received a great deal of publicity from articles in the New York Times and Washington Post to an appearance with Diane Sawyer on Good Morning America.
Abboud and Kim stress from the beginning that Asian children are not naturally smarter than other ethnicities -- rather, it is how they are raised that allow Asians to achieve such statistics. Asian Americans make up four percent of the population of the United States yet over 15 percent in top universities, including our very own Hopkins.
The sisters divide the book into 17 "secrets," which include: "Teach your child the art of valuing academic success over social status or popularity."
Each chapter focuses on one secret and is interspersed with anecdotes from their own childhoods and those of other Asian Americans. The sisters chose those secrets by remembering what their parents and their friends' parents did.
They were able to find people who were open about their experiences and grateful towards their parents, as the Kim sisters are. Abboud recognizes that there are Asians and Asian Americans who, rather than grateful, feel resentful of all the pressures their parents place on them.
On radio show appearances, Asian American listeners have called in to express how ungrateful they were. Abboud accepts that the Asian upbringing is not flawless and even includes examples of where Asian parents have gone wrong in her book. But she herself is appreciative of what her parents have done by making her and her sister's education their top priority. Abboud believes that this is in part because her parents were more "Americanized" than most Asian parents and did not place as much pressure on their children.
She said, "My parents just expected the best from us. They didn't care if we didn't get into Ivy League colleges."
Response to Top of the Class has been mixed. Abboud acknowledges that they have written a "controversial-type book." But she "believes strongly in the power of education."
Even though the Kim sisters and their book have been criticized for perpetuating the "Asian stereotype" that all Asians are good at school and studying, Abboud disagrees.
"There is a stereotype about Asians, but it is only that Asians emphasize education," she said. "It may be a good or bad thing, but nevertheless, I believe it's true."
Something that Asian parents have done "produced results, whether they were worth it or not." To Abboud and her sister, that "something" is the Asian upbringing and with their book, they hope to bring that mentality and success to other parents.
