[제 2회 드림에세이 수상작] Hannah Gil - 'Korea vs. America'

Grade: 12 / High School: Northwood High School

My recent trip to Korea this summer showed me the life I could have been living had my parents not immigrated to the United States. For the first time in the seventeen years of my life, I longed for Irvine, also known as "the bubble." Any fantasies I had of Korea were shattered when I saw what would be my home for the next three weeks. Compared to the nice, two-story house back home, the dingy house set in the ghetto was a slap in the face. My cousins rarely came home; my aunt was proud when my sister and I came home before 1 a.m. Relatives were shocked when we refused alcohol, as drinking is a norm among my cousins. I saw many teenagers my age busying themselves with mirrors and cameras instead of books and homework.

For the first week, I enjoyed the unlimited freedom that was denied to me in Irvine. I could go out without asking for permission or having to worry about getting home by 10 p.m. Unlike the lengthy drives I usually endured scavenging for entertainment around Irvine, the subway system allowed me to go anywhere for a dollar. I took advantage of the active night life, knowing that back at home the city would shut down at 11 p.m. I saw herds of students shopping at malls immediately after school, whereas my friends and I always went straight home to study. Amidst all the excitement, I got caught up with the constant, alluring distractions Korea provided; I cast away my homework for the hedonistic lifestyle and started becoming like the students I had previously looked upon appallingly.

Korea opened my eyes to what Irvine, the place I had once labeled "the prison-house," had provided me. I discovered that the lack of anything exciting to do within a six mile radius of Irvine was a blessing in disguise; the lack of recreational activities drove me to study, expanding my scope of understanding on life and encouraging my academic maturity. I busied myself with the arts for entertainment, which stimulated my mind continuously instead of deteriorating it because of the lack of use, allowing me to think more artistically, abstractly, and more perceptively. Irvine was the catalyst to my intellectual growth.

As I listened to my cousins tell stories about their high school experiences, I was more than thankful that I had been studying under an American system of education. In America, I am able to choose classes ranging from a wider scope of studies; I have the ability to select whichever courses I wish to take. Our schools are multicultural and allow for the flow of different ideas and perspectives. Because of this diverse environment in both classes and people, my opinions and thought processes have been influenced to be more complex and insightful. The students in my school and community are overachieving and set higher standards for themselves. Being cultured in this environment has allowed me to be more critical of myself and push myself harder to set and obtain my goals. The labs and clubs available on campus have helped me set my goals for the future. Through classes such as AP Biology with its labs and influences in clubs on campus, I became drawn to the study of molecular biology and microbiology, which I plan on studying in college. With these studies, I want to become a researcher in a pharmaceutical company or at a university, researching the genetic makeup of pathogens and the protein synthesis within these pathogens.

In America, I have been surrounded by nothing but positive influences. The higher standards in living and education in Irvine has ingrained into me a higher sets of goals than I would have ever had if I had not been exposed to such a privileged community where excellence is the norm. While my cousins study arranging flowers in Korea, I am able to study the arrangement of cells of the flower because the resources are available to me. I set higher expectations for myself because of the higher expectations set in Irvine. I credit living in Irvine for my knowledge and my desire to reach higher limits. Had I been living in Korea rather than America, I would have probably fallen into the temptations like I had over the summer and would not have fathomed to set the same goals I have today.