[에세이] Korean-American Students Organization
Korean-American Students Organization
Sedo Oh
for the Advancement
of Science and Art>
Purpose of the Organization: Many students in South Korea immigrate to the United States to study or to live. In fact, an annual average of 35,000 Koreans immigrate to the United States from 1976-1990. Although the number of Korean immigration has gradually decreased since 1990, the total population of Koreans residing in the United States is still staggering. Occasionally, some of these students acquire illegal immigration status either because they stay longer than the time allotted by a visitor’s visa or they cross the Canadian border or the Mexican border unlawfully. Others become illegal immigrants simply because they are unable to renew their visas in a timely manner. Korean-American students who have illegal status face more difficult problems than those who have legal status. For example, students with illegal status have limited choices of colleges that they can attend. Very often, these students and their parents have very sparse knowledge of how the American school system works and of the various special programs that they can take advantage of. This proposal aims to establish a Korean-American Students Organization (KASO) that targets Korean-American students who are in trouble and to outreach to these students in the New York City area.
Organizational Structure: KASO will have the typical organizational structure consisting of a president, vice president, secretary and other necessary leaders. The students in the organization will have as much voice as the president and other members of the board. The organization should be a non-profit, 501 (C) organization that requests funding from the government. KASO will also obtain private funding through fund-raising activities. KASO will eventually become the first place that all Korean-American immigrant students contact when they arrive to the United States.
Addressed Issues: The types of issues that KASO will tackle but not limited to; · School: high school, college, gang-related problems · Emotional problems: stress-reducing activities and providing consultants · Green cards status: how to avoid illegal status · Health Insurance: holding seminars and creating booklets to help obtain health insurance · Jobs and Wages: providing job lists and settling problems between employers and students
Uniqueness of Korean-American Student Organization; Many of these problems are addressed in major community organizations like Korean Community Services (KCS). However, there are no community organizations in the New York City area that focuses on Korean-American students. Most importantly organizations that often help to the illegal immigrants are practically non-existent. Students are not likely to visit organizations like Korean Community Services (KCS) because they often do not have an idea of what these organizations do, since these organizations such as KCS places a great emphasis of their work on the adult population.
As a consequence, most Korean-American students who have illegal status end up asking friends for help rather than asking for help from these professional organizations. However, Korean-American Student Organization (KSAO) will be student-centered, with additional resources directed to helping, informing, and educating the students with illegal immigration status, who represent one of the most vulnerable segments of the Korean-American population in New York City. KASO will seek to encourage, support, and provide necessary resources to aid Korean-American students in their transitions in becoming well-adjusted students in the United States as well as provide a reassuring and confidential atmosphere that the Korean-American students will feel comfortable visiting and asking for help.
Emotion and Gang-Related Problems
The biggest problems that most immigrant students face are school-related. Korean-American students who have been in America for only a few years experience great difficulties, such as school-related stress and ill-adjusted lives as immigrants. According to a recent research, the rate of mental health problems is higher for Korean-American students than any other minorities. According to the research conducted at high schools in Flushing an area with a concentrated Korean-American student population, the level of stress of Korean students scored 55.8, 15 points higher than the Non-Asian students.
The Korean students who came to America solely for studying scored 62.1. These students have trouble conversing in English and face cultural conflicts due to the new and strange environments. According to the doctor who conducted the research, these students often turn to drugs and alcohol in order to forget about their problems, and sometimes consider suicide. KASO can set up after-school activities that will promote their self-esteem, such as playing music and doing community services. Moreover, KASO can provide a fun-filled atmosphere in which these students can learn English and American customs. In a non-academic environment where fellow peers face similar difficulties, these Korean-American students will encourage each other, thereby reducing competition and embarrassment to a minimum. KASO can recruit teachers and volunteers from college or high schools, so that these youths will foster a more accessible and relaxed atmosphere. KASO can further create workshops that teach these volunteers how to become effective mentors for these immigrant students.
The New York City Board of Education released a four-year report, which showed that 10.4% of all high school Asian students dropped out of school, failing to receive a diploma. In addition, 23.2% of Asian high school students did not graduate on time, and remained an extra one to two years to graduate. The reasons cited for this high percentage of Asian students falling behind was due to a high truancy rate, language problems, and poor grades. The New York City Department of Education also concluded that after following the progress of these students for a seven-year period, 16.8% of Asian students finally dropped out high school without obtaining a diploma. Unlike American culture, Korean culture frowns upon individualistic ideals and encourages a group-building mentality. Many Korean-American retain this culture and a new immigrant may be easily persuaded to quit school and join a gang if he or she is convinced that such is the best way to make friends and fit in. Some of these gangs are Flying Dragons, Ghost Shadows, White Tigers, Born-To-Kill, and Korean Power. It is extremely difficult for the Korean-American students to get out of the gang once they join. Korean-American gang recruiters capitalize on the weaknesses of the new immigrants because the students sometimes have nobody to rely on since their parents are at work most of the time. KASO will install a gang prevention program with several professional consultants that would organize outreach and collect information on gang involvements with the students. KASO will clarify the confidential nature of the interactions so that the students will feel comfortable talking to the consultant from the organization.
College Admission Regarding Illegal Status Students: Once KASO collects a number of targeted students, the organization can give helpful information about various issues. One of the primary issues of concern is regarding college. Usually, the students who have legal status do not have many problems. Information about college admission and financial aid is crucial to student with illegal status because high schools are generally ignorant to the problems that illegal students confront and often fail to inform the students about their options. The following example describes a real-life case scenario of a Korean-American with illegal status who was a high school student without a social security number, but attended high school in New York City. The student wanted to go to SUNY (State University of New York), and she studied hard. When the time came for college, however, the student was not eligible to go to a SUNY because of her illegal status, despite excellent grades. It is extremely heartbreaking for a student to study hard but get rejected from the college of his or her dream for a circumstance that he or she has absolutely no control over. To add to this anguish, a student뭩 pain is increased exponentially when he/she finds out about it at the last moment (usually second term of senior year in high school). KASO can significantly reduce the stress caused by this trauma by producing a booklet for every single case possible and placing it in the college offices of New York City high schools. Doing so will help not only Korean-American students, but will benefit other racial immigrant students as well.
The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act: KASO will help students who hold student visas to keep their status legal and to help them obtain working visas if the students need it. KASO will also advocate politically to help the illegal students and people holding students visas to obtain permanent residency. Several immigrant rights groups, including the National Association of Korean-American Service for Education Council (NAKASEC), held a press conference in Washington D.C. on July 17, 2002 and announced their plans to begin actively lobbying Congress to pass The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, which would encourage states to grant undocumented immigration students in-state tuition and provide an opportunity for some undocumented students to obtain legal status. Min, a student at Flushing High School, reflects a common sentiment shared by most illegal Korean-American students, by saying: Soon, I’m going to graduate high school and go on to college, but I find that many of my seniors and peers have a lot of trouble getting into college because of financial reasons. I think it’s unfair to us, when we have done nothing wrong, that our future is put under such constraints. Ever since the Iraq war and September 11 incident, congress has been quick to pass legislation that deals with national security, but has been slow to pass bills to help foreign students such as DREAM. As Min puts it well, it is frustrating and unfair for students who had no say in their parent’s decision to immigrate to a foreign land. Already at a tremendous disadvantage, DREAM is truly an immigrant student’s dream come true; it is a measure on the part of the government to mitigate the hardships of the newly immigrated and a chance for the United States to carry out a practical action that has long been evoked by the Statue of Liberty’s promise to the world: Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door.
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Understandably, after the tragic events of September 11, 2001, the vulnerable American public may express reluctance to extend a helping hand to their foreign neighbors. Neo-conservatives in the Bust administration might have been capitalized on these grass root vulnerabilities to set more hurdles for the immigrant student, such as reducing federal financial aid immediately post 9/11. Sadly, many of these senators, when designing security measures to protect the United States from further terrorist attacks, failed to consider that many immigrant students are themselves victims to these attacks. In fact, most immigrant students, trapped within the system of illegal residence, have stayed in the US for a prolonged period of time without the chance to visit loved ones form their native land, in hopes that they can be granted permanent residence one day. To add to this, many immigrant students continue to wait for this day even without ever receiving aid from the government, such as subsidized medical insurance or housing subsidies after 9/11. Thus, while law makers should continue in their attempts to protect our nation via hard-line security legislation, they must be careful not to overlook the heartbreaking perseverance, patience, and loyalty from this group of bright immigrant students, whom if provided with the proper guidance, can greatly benefit the nation in the future. Most importantly, both law makers and the American public alike must not forget that immigrants provided the founding basis for our nation.
I have sent letters that addresses the issue on permitting illegal status students to obtain a permanent residency to all the senators that I could find in year 2001 and I received no response from any them. However, not too long after, I came across an article in the Korea Times regarding a bill that was submitted to confess to allow all students who have attended high school in America to get permanent residency. I may not have gotten a response from a single senator but was ecstatic that I received the response in a different way. An organization can be far more effective on lobbying the government than one individual trying to get their idea across to the senators and the Congress. KASO can organize a campaign to send a massive number of letters. Moreover, KASO will branch out to other non-profit organizations with similar agenda in order to broaden the base of support towards this pressing issue.
My name is Sedo Oh and I currently attend The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art. I major in Electrical Engineering and I am a graduate of 2004. I attended Bronx High School of Science from 1996-2000. I spent three years as a volunteer at Korean Community Service as a peer educator who teaches about HIV/AIDS to Korean-American teenagers throughout the New York City area. The volunteering job included outreach in 32nd street in Manhattan, informing Korean-American students in Flushing area about HIV/AIDS, teaching others a proper way to use condoms and participating in major Korean events such as Chu Suk parade. I also work with a Columbia University professor who is a consultant for African-American non-profit organizations such as Miracle Makers Inc. and Friends of Crown Height throughout the New York City.(생략) I help write proposals such as Head Start and Scatter Site Housing Program for these organizations to obtain funds from the government and private funding sources. While my interest has always been in electrical engineering in making electrical devices ever since I was very young, experiencing the hardship of being an immigrant in the United States, I became interested in helping other Korean-American immigrant students who have just came to the United States and those who are still having trouble adjusting to the American life style.
The following letter was sent to senators. This letter is not corrected or altered in anyway for this particular proposal.
I came to America with a status of visitor. Like many visitors to America, my family did not intend to visit, but to stay. After six months being in America, I was officially illegal. As an 11 years old boy, I had no idea whether I was illegal or what it meant to me living in America.
I knew that I had a denser brain matter than other people as I always complained how heavy my brain was. However, it was a gift that not many people possess. I did very well in school in Korea. I followed my success even when I was in America.
To be good or better than other people academically without initially knowing English was great hindrance to my school life. However, after three years, English became easier and I was accepted into Bronx High School of Science, one of the top public high schools in New York City.
Crowded with countless number of people whose brain was just as dense as mine, just being smart did not guarantee good grades. Efforts were essential to get good grades, especially when my school was more than one hour away by train. Time was extremely precious. Sleeping was kept to minimum to around 5 hours. It was tremendously difficult but I made to my senior year of high school.
This is the year when things get most frantic for most high school students. We all have to worry about college. Through process of picking colleges and deciding where I want to go to, I figured my grades would get me into any college I wished. I also figured my illegal status in America will not get me into any college.
For almost 13 years of my life I prioritized my education over everything, and my illegal status was going to null it all. What bothered me a lot was that I could have instead had 13 years of blossoming teenage life with friends and tons of fun. Having to miss that chance, I was about to live rest of my life making money and fighting to live day by day. I knew there will be no fun for me for all coming years ahead, having to lose the choice of becoming what I wanted to be in future: an engineer.
I utmost despised the government of the United States. I felt that they and the world have no right to destroy life of a boy, who has made a good effort and has skills to go to a good college. They were just going to waste one hard working person, because he did not have a green card in this land where it was free for all people around the world given by god. I wished I were back in Korea where at least I can attend a college.
I am lucky. I was able to get a social security number two weeks before the deadline for an application for college. I was happy to attend the Cooper Union, a school that gives full scholarship to every student, which fit my situation, since my parents could not afford me to any college.
I know there are students out there who made just as much effort as I did, but are not lucky as I am. Who knows If they become angry and depressed enough, they will do something not too far from Columbine High School incident or suicide. The United States of America should give more attention to the students who work hard and is still illegal in the country.