Life Have I Felt More

¶ … life have I felt more helpless; I am merely a puppet without a voice! I can still remember that thought while walking beside my parents and my brother as our family hurried anxiously down the long passages into the immigration office. Anxiously forcing myself to explore the "new world" as if I were from an alien planet, I can still remember the morning dew that glistened on the terminal windows of the Los Angeles Airport during that bright sunny spring morning in 1999. Even as the sunlit bliss outside captivated my heart with serenity, I was still very aware of the apprehension and seriousness that lay within my parents' eyes' and I understood their concern: we weren't home free just yet.

We stood in line while my father nervously checked through all of our documents over and over again. The wait seemed like an eternity to me. Finally, our family advanced to the next available immigration officer. At this point I was thinking

Touchdown, we're finally in America!" But my excitement turned to fear the moment the officer opened his mouth and asked me a series of questions in English. To make matters worse, our baggage was overtly large and bulky, which only led to a string of additional questions I could not understand. The officer then singled me out and muttered something as I drew a complete blank, standing there dumbfounded. Even as I tried to formulate some type of answer for this man, all I could think about was the fact that my English schooling in Korea never prepared me for this. One would have thought that three years of English classes would be enough to understand the officer's questions.

How could this happen to me?"

In my mind, that moment was the watershed event of my past that permanently changed the course of my one-directional life before immigrating to the United States.

Previously, I had always considered myself to be above average in everything that I did in South Korea; even if I was not the best at something, I had never experienced utter ineptitude at anything else to the degree that I found myself unable to understand the immigration officer's questions.

In Korea, I lived in a spoon-fed comfort zone; since that turning point at the Los

Angeles Airport terminal I realized that I needed to become much stronger, more confident, and fully prepared for any obstacle that lies ahead. After being exposed to the harsh reality of the linguistic barrier in America, many might have given up and simply conformed to the American stereotype of the "typical foreign immigrant," but I decided right there in the immigration office to become someone successful in America by applying my talents and abilities to my education and to channel my energies into achieving something worthwhile for myself, my family, and also my people.

Since then, I regained my confidence and participated proactively in my academic responsibilities and extracurricular opportunities. Part of my strength comes from my commitment to God, and I consider religion to be one of the most important influences in my life. I lead a bible study group and my choir section at Bethel Korean Church, performing in the annual Christmas and New Year's performances; I was elected

President of my high school Korean Club; and I lead marketing efforts as the marketing director in connection with the L.A. Korean Association's Korean festival. I have also captained several soccer teams, being voted MVP during a national tournament at the LA

Home Depot Center. While I certainly cherish all those experiences, they pale in comparison to the reward of having been able to perform volunteer work at the Irvine

Regional Hospital.

Through my church, I have also been fortunate enough to come across other foreigners who, much like myself, have had to overcome language barriers and achieve success in the United States. Their advice was encouraging to me, helping me to develop the necessary confidence to overcome the initial setbacks in an unfamiliar country. My long-term goals are to pursue a degree in Business Economics leading to a career as a financial analyst. In that capacity, I hope to contribute to the betterment of my people as well as the U.S. economy by facilitating Korean investments in the U.S. And vice-versa.