A Young Korean Pursuing The American Dream

At his home in Korea, Han Gu Nam faced a lot of pressure to do well in school, which led him to his new and difficult life in the United States.
Life in Korea: Han was born and raised in South Korea, where education was a top priority. He lived with his parents and his younger brother on the 30th floor of an apartment complex just outside of a city called Bussan. Because Han is the oldest out of two children it put even more pressure on him from his parents to do well in school.
As a student in Korea, Han was forced to go to school five days a week from 7 in the morning until 10 at night! Although Han spent much of his time in school, he still struggled to make grades that would satisfy his parents. Han’s parents strongly believed that he needed a good education to be successful, so they decided to make him move to America to help him improve his education. Han was now faced with one of the most difficult challenges he would ever have to experience during his lifetime.
Moving to America: Han moved to the United States when he was 15 years old. After spending most of his life in Korea, Han faced many difficult challenges such as leaning to communicate using English, understanding the American culture, understanding American teachers, taking care of himself without the help of his parents, and making new friends. Han successfully accomplished all of these things over time through dedication, hard work, and experiences. During his first year in the United States, Han stayed with a host family in Mississippi.
Home away from home: When Han moved to Mississippi, he moved in with a family he didn’t even know or even know how to communicate with. This made it very difficult for Han to get settled in to his new environment. All at once Han had lost close contact with his family, his friends, and the home he had known for so long. Occasionally Han got the opportunity to call his friends and family back at home but still worked on making new friends and getting to know his host family.
A lesson in morals: In Mississippi, Han claims that people were very friendly, so it was easier for him to make friends but he still had a difficulties understanding some English slang. While he was there, he lived with an African American family and often heard people call each other the “N word”. After hearing it be used so casually, Han thought it was a friendly nick name to call people. Then one day he called one of his friends that—who happened to be an African American—and soon realized that it was not okay for him to say after his friend became very offended. Although this may seem humorous, it was the hard way Han had to learn about the English language and some American morals.
Moving once again: After Han spent one year with his host family in Mississippi, he had to move to Georgia to live with his Aunt. During his last two years of high school, Han played football and basketball. At one of his junior varsity practices for football, Han had to go up against the varsity offense. Despite the intimidating varsity linemen staring him straight in the eyes, Han managed to push his way through them and sacked the quarter back. Han was extremely pleased with himself as he watched the varsity offense run laps as a result of his great accomplishment.
Becoming more Americanized: Back in Korea the most popular sport everyone loved to play was soccer. But when Han was introduced to football in America, he fell in love with the “energy in [the] field”, making football his new favorite sport. One of Han’s most “fascinating” moments in the United States of America was when he played his first football game. This transition made Han more Americanized by changing his favorite sport from soccer to football and joining the football team helped him make a few friends along the way as well.
Learning to speak English: The most difficult accomplishment Han had to tackle while living in the United States was learning to speak English fluently. When Han first came to the United States he could hardly speak or understand English, which made it very difficult for Han to make friends or even ask for food. After spending three years in American schools and interacting with his friend and other people, Han learned to speak English quite well. Although he still claims that in order for him to keep up in class, he has to concentrate very closely on what his teachers are saying. Despite the language boundaries, Han improved greatly in his academic standings.
Success in the class room: Han did extremely well on the SAT test by receiving an 800 on the math portion of the exam. He also did exceptionally well on the Chemistry AP Exam, earning a five on it. These two great accomplishments, along with his outstanding work ethic, made it possible for Han to achieve his next great accomplishment, getting accepted into Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Han is currently a University studies major at Virginia Tech but is thinking about switching to become a Chemistry major. As of right now Han wants to go into medical school after graduating from Virginia Tech to become a physician specialized in the nerve system.
Difficult tasks attained: After years of dedication and hard work Han became extremely successful academically. He also learned how to adapt to a totally new environment, how to speak and write and speak in English, and he managed to make some friends along the way. All of these accomplishments—predominately academic accomplishments—will help shape the rest of Han’s life and will also help him become a very successful person. Han attained even more than what his parents were asking him to do and they have every reason to be proud of their son and the accomplishments that he has made.