Yeana Kwon 3/06/12
Educational Success
All parents wish for their children to succeed in life. When parents give birth to their children, they envision a life of wealth and comfort for them; and during this day in age, the ideas of wealth, comfort, success, all lead back to one core belief, the belief in a college education. However, in the past, many people lived decent lives, lives that in many people’s views can be considered successful. So, in order for education to have become emphasized as a core factor of this dream called “success” in modern society, there must have been some sort of experience, or event in our parent’s lives that caused them to push their children towards a higher education, and to have made them so desperately want their children to experience this new idea of “educational success”.
My mother, like so many other parents living in America today, was an immigrant. She was born and raised in Korea, and she continued to live in Korea until she got married and followed her husband, my father, to America. My mother was the oldest of 4 children, with two younger sisters, and a younger brother; and up until high school, she lived with her mother, father, and 3 younger siblings in a small city called Incheon. Her family was never wealthy, but during the elementary, and middle school years of her life, her family “got by” she says. Her mother sold different types of sweets and food, and her father was a teacher, and the head “bread maker” of the family. Although teachers did not make much money at the time, it was always enough to get by, and the money income was steady and stable. However, when my grandfather met a man who poked at his pride, and led him to choose a different path in life, my mother’s family’s finances crumbled. My mother states “Back then, I studied well, and was a very good student. So naturally, I wanted to go to college….but…back then…my family situation kept getting worse and worse….and your grandma was in a financially difficult situation…because of your grandfather”. “He wasn’t a very good provider” she recalls. Her father had met a man, after 30 years of being a teacher, who had convinced him that if he went into business, rather than teaching, he would be able to make more money. Being unable to provide a comfortable life for his family had continuously hurt his pride, and the words of this man were enough to push my grandfather into quitting his job. Using all the tenure money he received from resigning from his teaching position, my grandfather invested in the business of the man, who had convinced him to quit, hoping to yield double the amount; only to realize soon after that he had been conned, and his family was now more broke then they had ever been before. Due to the family’s poor financial situation, my mother was forced to make a decision between helping out her financially struggled parents and siblings, and choosing to pursue a college education that would only deepen the financial hole they were in. At such a young age my mother was forced to give up what could have been a bright educational future, which could have led to a possible life of “success”; which probably plays a factor in her unshakable belief in a college education for me and my brother today. My mother’s face crinkles with a slight twinge of regret as she remembers the unjust decisions she was faced with, as she continues on to say ” I also had 3 younger siblings to think about…..so I decided to throw away any thoughts I had of going to college and just attend the high school that would send me directly to the job market”. She later continues to tell me about the details of her life in the job market oriented high school she attended, taking mostly math courses, a subject she had absolutely no interest in. Soon after, when I asked my mother her thoughts on college education being an essential part of mine, and my brother’s life, she un-hesitantly responds “of course you guys have to study as much as you guys can…not just college…but even more if you can”.
Not only does my mother have a deeply grounded point of view on the importance of a college education in order to live a successful life, but also on the importance of religion in order to achieve a morally correct, and meaningful life. “Money isn’t the only important thing in life” my mother says when I mention that my dream, becoming an elementary school teacher, doesn’t necessarily include a large income. When questioning my mother about what the purpose of pursuing a college education, and the purpose of becoming a teacher is if I am not going to be able to attain a financially “successful” life; my mother states “help pave a road for them….plus….teach them how to live a morally worthwhile life….and …although its illegal now, you should teach them (the students), through your actions…what it means to believe in God. America has become….jaded…and now you can’t directly teach them about God…but through your actions”, clearly stressing the important role religion and a strong moral foundation have in attaining the overall goal of “modern-day success”. My mother was not always a Christian; in fact, no one in her family was a Christian. My mother was the first ever Christian in her family lineage, and she became familiar with Christianity through the educational system in Korea. Unlike America, Korean education was based more on random-ness rather than self-choice, and a lot of times, the way one attended a certain school was based on a random, lottery-like system, where someone picks a random school name out of a bowl, and that school ends up being the school you attend. When it was time for my mother to go to middle school, that very system was used to decide which school she would be attending; and it just so happened that the school they chose for her was a Christian school. As part of her daily school schedule, she heard sermons about God, and learned about the bible during her classes. The more she learned about Christ, the more intrigued she became, and eventually, even after graduating, she attended church on a weekly basis, and faithfully became a believer in Christ, taking up Christianity as her religion. Although to most people Christianity may just be a religion, it was so much more to my mother; it was her moral foundation. Life was no longer about attaining success for yourself, but rather about becoming successful so that you could have more resources at your expense, and become a more capable person and help others. My mother recalls “I see people at my store all the time who make lots of money, but all they do with their money is have fun on their own, waste their money spending night after night in a bar….their heads are empty…..their money, their talents are so…wasteful. If they spent just a little of their time, their money….trying to help others…”. This is what my mother is trying to get at; it is not how wealthy you are that defines how successful your life was, but rather it is the way you choose to live your life that defines your “success”. However, no matter how good your heart is, if you don’t have any resources or knowledge at your expense, it is hard to help others, or even relate to others through common knowledge; that is why education is so important.
Yes, all parents want their children to be successful; and in modern society today, that success has somehow become tied in with the idea of a college education. However, for my mother, “success” is not simply defined by your level of education, or as I like to call it, “educational success”; but more about the knowledge and resources, financial and otherwise, assisting in the growth of a much deeper, righteous, and lasting success based on a strong moral foundation; and the goal living a worthwhile and memorable life. As my mother says “If you have a capable brain….you should use it to study hard….study and become someone with power….so that you can move (the people of) this country, and lead it in the right direction”. Education is important, and it is good to strive for a better education, but, education does not define success; at the end of the day, it is the way you choose to live your life that determines whether or not you are truly a “success”.
Work Cited Page
Kwon, Kyu Hee. Personal Interview. 04 Mar. 2012
