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Personal Background
Everyone was Korean in Seoul. No one was Korean in Prichard. Motorcycles and mopeds crammed Seoul''s roads. Trees and flowers lined Prichard''s streets. In cosmopolitan Seoul, I was a favorite son showered with attention from a large circle of extended family. In suburban Prichard, knowing no one but my parents, I was the only Asian child in the neighborhood. Indeed immigrating to the U.S. from Korea and settling down in a suburb of Mobile as a twelve-year old child dramatically changed my life. Uprooted from the people I knew and the things I was used to, I felt lonely, helpless, and uncomfortable in my new surroundings. However, I redirected the negative feelings into a force of strength that propelled me to excel in academics. Furthermore, the immigrant experience gave me adaptation skills that helped me as a foreign exchange student in Japan and as a businessman working with people of different cultures and backgrounds.
Pampered materially and nurtured emotionally in Seoul, I lived with relatives close by and a helping hand available whenever I needed it. My school, while stiflingly competitive and committed to regular doses of corporal punishment, presented a system which I understood and was familiar with. Although the neighborhood lacked open areas, it was a close-kit community where children addressed the lady next door as "aunt" and housewives frequently shared recipes. I was completely at home, ethnically, linguistically, and in every other respect.
In the face of these obstacles, I started to question the purpose behind immigrating to the U.S. Seeing my parents'' exhausted silhouettes seven times a week, I began to understand the motivation behind the move that forever altered my life: a chance at a brighter future in the U.S. Because no one could help us, we had to help ourselves. Armed with this reinvigorating realization, I began to hoist myself out of loneliness, helplessness, and discomfort.
Since my school did not offer remedial English classes for immigrant students, I began studying with only the help of an English-Chinese dictionary. Although I was focused and determined, streams of below average grades accompanied my first year in school. Nonetheless, by expending two to three times the effort of others, I started to notice signs of improvement. A well-timed vote of confidence came from my seventh-grade reading instructor, Mr. John Smith. In his class, the highest possible grade-a B-was given to only one student per school year. Aiming for that coveted prize, I managed to improve my grades from a D in the first semester to the B in the final semester. At the year-end award ceremony, Mr. Smith specifically commended my achievement in front of the student body. While I received many other academic accolades in later years, no one validated my efforts and boosted my self-confidence more than that short yet significant praise.
Although it has been fourteen years since I arrived in Prichard, the immigrant experience has strengthened my character in ways that will be professionally and socially beneficial for years to come. As an immigrant child, I learned how to transition from one culture to another. This skill helped me when I had to make that transition again as a foreign exchange student in Japan. Additionally, having experienced the degradation of ethnic bigotry, I have learned to be sensitive toward different people and cultures. |
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