As a child of an immigrant family, and also a student at Needham Schools from the Metco Program, Chanu said he often felt like an outsider growing up. When asked about difficulties growing up in a mostly white environment, he described how he wasn't as good in social situations due to him being raised in a different culture with a different language.

Growing up in New York, Tae Young was often made fun of for his non-traditional name. Because of this, he started to go by Tony. Eventually, during his time in the army, he switched it to Tai, which was a traditional Korean name, similar to his birth name. Tae Young's children, Chanu and Amy, also both have had trouble with their names. Amy was born Jung Woo but changed her name to Amy when she began school in the Metco Program, and Chanu spoke on the topic of his name saying "I know my name can be hard to pronounce in English." All of these name changes and struggles, are examples of how difficult it can be to stick to one's culture when someone moves to America.