The
year I entered high school, I accomplished my first big life goal. I had been
studying extremely hard to gain admission to a certain school since
I was fifteen. I was most impressed by this school’s amazing curriculum. It
held its students to the highest academic standard. There was only one thing
about the school that made me feel a little uneasy: a word in its name,
“minjok,” which means “a nation’s people” in Korean. I passed four tough rounds
in the admission process: a long application, essays, grueling in-depth oral
exams in three academic different subjects which were, Math, English, and
Physics, and finally a personal interview. I still remember the day I anxiously
typed in my application number to look up my acceptance results on the Internet.
It was November 18th. Before I could never understand when people
said they felt as if they were flying. That day, I too was flying high.
As
a new KMLA student I felt that I was one step closer to my dream of becoming a
global leader who can influence the world in a significant way. Therefore,
again I thought the best way to achieve my dream was to go to the next best
school, and my next goal was to gain admission to an American university like
my father and my two older sisters. I was determined to work hard in my classes
and improve my English. However, the one little aspect of the school I was
unsure of began to feel like a large obstacle.
As
a school that educates the future leaders of our nation’s people, KMLA greatly
values Korean traditions, history, and patriotism which to me were old ideas in
our country of rapid globalization. I felt like I was being forced to learn
about these old ideas. I had to wear Korean traditional clothes as a school
uniform rather than a crisp, suit-like uniform. I took classes in buildings
that were built in traditional Korean architectural style that reminded me how
our ancestors only used wood that was easily burned under attack. Music class
only focused on Korean traditional instruments and music. I was more interested
in classical music and pop music rather than Korean folk music that sung about
harvest time. Everything was in a traditional Korean way, and I hated it
because it was the opposite of what I had worked hard for and shabby. It seemed
paradoxical that KMLA enforced the use of English and promoted seminar style
classes in which students participate in English discussions on various topics
such as advanced science, politics, and economy. It almost felt like English
wouldn’t come out right because it clashed with everything.
Lastly,
KMLA is located in the countryside where it takes several hours from the
capital city, Seoul. I have lived in the city my entire life, so living in a
rural place felt very uncomfortable to me because I was so used to just walking
to a store to get what I needed.
However,
my whole point of view changed after spending a month at KMLA and for the first
time I’ve learned to think deeply about who I am and who I should be. One
beautiful day, the entire campus was covered in snow, I was standing, of
course, dressed in Korean traditional clothing, in front of a wooden door of a
building with a stone tiled roof where Korean language class was held. I was
looking at shining Korean letters carved on the door and, at the same time, I
could hear the songs coming out from the music class that I could immediately
recognize. I found myself in complete awe of my surroundings. I felt as if I
were standing in the middle of Korean history and was being embraced as part of
it. I realized that the negative feelings I had against the customs were only
due to my ignorance and close-mindedness. Now, I could better understand them
and my own origins. Learning gained from textbooks and theories is not the only
kind of education and certainly not the most important.
Today,
I feel very fortunate to be able to learn in such an intellectually rich
environment. I recently read about a girl named Malala who is my age and was
shot because of her strong will to go to school. She lives in a
Taliban-controlled area of Pakistan and, thus, was threatened by the
close-mindedness of the Taliban that doesn’t believe in education for women.
Malala fought as an education activist through blogging on the Internet against
the violent regime. She is a true global leader. Her courage inspired me to
reflect upon my own will to learn and made me realize how I can be close-minded
and prejudiced which would deny myself of valuable learning opportunities. I am
determined to widen my views and not simply work to get into a good university,
but to value all kinds of education even if it means trying new and unfamiliar
things.
