Describe the world you come from - for example, your family, community
or school - and tell us how your world has shaped your dreams
and aspirations
My family is a Korean colony in the United States. My mom immersed me in the Korean culture, so I will never forget my heritage, even though I am an American citizen. We celebrate Choo-suk (a form of Thanksgiving), Gije (death anniversary for elders), and every other Korean holiday every year. We speak Korean to each other and use the respectful term to the elders.
Yet until recently, I did not appreciate this. Every time I had to bow down to my elders during Korean New Years I thought "how tedious." None of my other Korean friends have to do this! They are American, not Korean. Why do I have to be when they aren't?
Even worse, along with all the "voodoo" Korean traditions I have to follow, my mom is the stereotypical Asian parent who does not talk to me if I get that one "B." My mom always compares, always expecting, more out of me.
My curiosity could not be abated until I finally asked. So, my mom, at last, told me her story. She lived a childhood of poverty. Waking up in the morning to find her parents off at the farm, she had to make breakfast with her sister for the family of six. There was the produce from the farm, but there were times when food was scarce and meat could only be found in dreams. Her education ended at the secondary level because she had no money. She reached a point of despair; she reached the point at which weak-minded people would have given in to fate and lost sight of their dreams. Instead, my mom looked at her struggles as the teacher of an important lesson: "Every man must climb out of his own hole." It was from this point that she set her sights on the Land of Dreams, America.
I finally understood why I should learn to be Korean while being American, why I should achieve success. If I forget that I am Korean, I am forgetting my mom's struggle and the culture of my ancestors. If I forget, then who am I?
Even after arriving in America, my parents struggled to live the life of their dreams. They were still poor and the only possessions they had were a van and the wares that they sold at various street fairs. They slept in the van, saving money to allow my brothers and me to live in a house and receive the education that my mom never had.
Throughout her tale, there is a unifying theme: diligence is the key to your dreams. Hearing her story, I lived her thirty years. I learned who I truly am. I learned the importance of diligence and changed my lackadaisical attitude. Now I know that if I do not successfully live out my own American Dream, I will have to live with a great regret.
Tell us about a personal quality, talent, accomplishment, contribution or experience that is important to you. What about this quality or accomplishment makes you proud and how does it relate to the person you are?
It was a Saturday, a day when most teenagers should be out socializing with friends at the movie theater or the mall, but instead my friends and I were at the Relay for Life at the local public park. As I walked my laps, I saw the stands selling raffle tickets, night lights, and various other items to fund-raise for cancer research. I saw fellow Relay for Life supporters walking the path. I saw the numerous cancer survivors walking the same path.
The Relay for Life supporters were there walking for their loved ones or for their organization; cancer survivors walking for those still afflicted by the terrible disease and fellow survivors. What was I there for? Why was I there walking that path in the desert heat?
Sure helping raise awareness and funds for cancer research was rewarding, but that couldn't be the only reason why I was there. I walked the path, but no answers came to me during that time.
Then night fell, and the luminaries were lit in remembrance of those who passed away and to honor those living with cancer. As I walked by the luminaries, I found that I was at the relay for my grandparents, who all died of different cancers from leukemia to stomach cancer. As I walked more, though, I realized that I was at the relay not only for my loved ones, but also for those who shared the same experiences as my grandparents and I experienced. Most people there were there for a specific reason, be it they were cancer patients or a family member of a loved one; they were all there to remember their own struggles with cancer or with the sorrow after cruel cancer tears away a loved member.
That night I understood how connected the world truly was as my fellow Relay for Life supporters and I walked slowly down the path, remembering our loved ones. Finally, as I walked down the path, I stared into a picture of a young boy on a luminary who died because of leukemia, as my grandmother did. I wished that the parents of that young boy did not have the same experience I had. I wished that we had a better memory, one in which our loved ones survived. I want to be the person that later on can help others achieve that dream, as a person who not only fundraises funds for cancer research, but also as a person who is able to use those funds for research.
or school - and tell us how your world has shaped your dreams
and aspirations
My family is a Korean colony in the United States. My mom immersed me in the Korean culture, so I will never forget my heritage, even though I am an American citizen. We celebrate Choo-suk (a form of Thanksgiving), Gije (death anniversary for elders), and every other Korean holiday every year. We speak Korean to each other and use the respectful term to the elders.
Yet until recently, I did not appreciate this. Every time I had to bow down to my elders during Korean New Years I thought "how tedious." None of my other Korean friends have to do this! They are American, not Korean. Why do I have to be when they aren't?
Even worse, along with all the "voodoo" Korean traditions I have to follow, my mom is the stereotypical Asian parent who does not talk to me if I get that one "B." My mom always compares, always expecting, more out of me.
My curiosity could not be abated until I finally asked. So, my mom, at last, told me her story. She lived a childhood of poverty. Waking up in the morning to find her parents off at the farm, she had to make breakfast with her sister for the family of six. There was the produce from the farm, but there were times when food was scarce and meat could only be found in dreams. Her education ended at the secondary level because she had no money. She reached a point of despair; she reached the point at which weak-minded people would have given in to fate and lost sight of their dreams. Instead, my mom looked at her struggles as the teacher of an important lesson: "Every man must climb out of his own hole." It was from this point that she set her sights on the Land of Dreams, America.
I finally understood why I should learn to be Korean while being American, why I should achieve success. If I forget that I am Korean, I am forgetting my mom's struggle and the culture of my ancestors. If I forget, then who am I?
Even after arriving in America, my parents struggled to live the life of their dreams. They were still poor and the only possessions they had were a van and the wares that they sold at various street fairs. They slept in the van, saving money to allow my brothers and me to live in a house and receive the education that my mom never had.
Throughout her tale, there is a unifying theme: diligence is the key to your dreams. Hearing her story, I lived her thirty years. I learned who I truly am. I learned the importance of diligence and changed my lackadaisical attitude. Now I know that if I do not successfully live out my own American Dream, I will have to live with a great regret.
Tell us about a personal quality, talent, accomplishment, contribution or experience that is important to you. What about this quality or accomplishment makes you proud and how does it relate to the person you are?
It was a Saturday, a day when most teenagers should be out socializing with friends at the movie theater or the mall, but instead my friends and I were at the Relay for Life at the local public park. As I walked my laps, I saw the stands selling raffle tickets, night lights, and various other items to fund-raise for cancer research. I saw fellow Relay for Life supporters walking the path. I saw the numerous cancer survivors walking the same path.
The Relay for Life supporters were there walking for their loved ones or for their organization; cancer survivors walking for those still afflicted by the terrible disease and fellow survivors. What was I there for? Why was I there walking that path in the desert heat?
Sure helping raise awareness and funds for cancer research was rewarding, but that couldn't be the only reason why I was there. I walked the path, but no answers came to me during that time.
Then night fell, and the luminaries were lit in remembrance of those who passed away and to honor those living with cancer. As I walked by the luminaries, I found that I was at the relay for my grandparents, who all died of different cancers from leukemia to stomach cancer. As I walked more, though, I realized that I was at the relay not only for my loved ones, but also for those who shared the same experiences as my grandparents and I experienced. Most people there were there for a specific reason, be it they were cancer patients or a family member of a loved one; they were all there to remember their own struggles with cancer or with the sorrow after cruel cancer tears away a loved member.
That night I understood how connected the world truly was as my fellow Relay for Life supporters and I walked slowly down the path, remembering our loved ones. Finally, as I walked down the path, I stared into a picture of a young boy on a luminary who died because of leukemia, as my grandmother did. I wished that the parents of that young boy did not have the same experience I had. I wished that we had a better memory, one in which our loved ones survived. I want to be the person that later on can help others achieve that dream, as a person who not only fundraises funds for cancer research, but also as a person who is able to use those funds for research.