Educational Autobiography

Educational Autobiography

February 1st, 2014 (ALD class)

It has been more than six months since I came to UT through a reciprocal exchange program. I have recently started to think about why I came here and what I have gotten out of this new environment so far. Overall, I have been enjoying living here. One of the things I feel most comfortable about is that people are not necessarily interested in which school I was attending to, in my home.

 In South Korea, where I grew up, school has a great role and influence in terms of forming one’s identity. Korean people tell their stories mentioning their school age. They might say, for example, “When I was a 6^th grade, I had an accident,” or “I met him when I was a senior in high school.”  There is a certain term referring to these people, which is ‘school-type human.’

In Korea, it is inevitable to avoid answering the question, “Where do(did) you go to school?” when meeting new people. “I go to Seoul National University,” I say with hesitation; then, spontaneously, I begin to take greater control of the conversation, which is too much for those who have an introverted personality like me. SNU, the top university in Korea, is a magic word that catches people’s attention immediately. If I do something well, it is because I am a SNU student. If I am not good at something, it makes me more human. Korea’s college enrollment rate is more than 80%, the highest among member states of OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development). It doesn’t mean that much to go to university since everybody does it, but the competition for so-called prestigious universities has been getting higher. That’s because getting accepted to those schools is regarded as a golden opportunity for moving up in the world.

 I was lucky to survive the competition. The education evaluation system is mainly based on multiple-choice and short answer problems. Due to my good memory skills, it wasn’t difficult for me to retrieve what I had learned on the exams. My teachers and neighbors often called me a ‘good daughter’ not always because I obeyed my parents, but mostly because of my good grades in school. My transcript meant that my parents didn’t have to be concerned about my future until I graduate from college(for a while) and didn’t have to spend much money supporting me since I would be able to get a full-ride to go to school..

My parents were proud of me and fully trusted me. They didn’t interfere with my studying. Actually, they were not able to do so with slim finances. My father works at an insurance company, and my mother is an ordinary housewife. It is common to spend over half a million dollars a month for private education per child in Korea. Nevertheless, I tried my best not to pay extra for education other than books. Furthermore, the access to high quality information about entering universities was limited to such people those who were not of upper middle socioeconomic status. I had to gather the information by myself, which is not common in my country.

After starting college at SNU, I realized that my case can be explained by an old saying, “A black hen lays a white egg.” Most of my peers have at least one of their parents who are professionals such as teachers, professors, doctors, etc. Moreover, it is frequently found that their siblings also go to the same school or another university in the top five. For me, “risen from humble family”, however, that’s not the case. My younger brother went to a two-year college to get job training. That’s why I didn’t seem to blend in the university.

 Actually, entering SNU was not my original goal. I had been dreaming of becoming an elementary school teacher for a long time. In order to become a teacher, I had to go to a certain type of colleges for education which is much easier to get into. My parents didn’t stay out of this matter of making a choice of career. They completely supported my idea telling me that a teacher is the best job for women, and they keep saying that when I mention other job.

Applying for SNU was not my own decision, nor my parents, but my teachers strongly urged me to submit my application for the sake of the reputation of my high school. Then I made a mistake in applying for an education college. Due to my mistake, I didn’t get into the college. I wandered for more than a month, though I satisfied the entrance requirements for the best school; I had shut my ears to any other possibilities, because I also firmly believed that there’s nothing better than being a teacher as a woman. Feeling lost, I thought that I should have spent enough time to discover my aptitude to help me in my career exploration.

             My younger brother, who was often compared to me by my parents and neighbors, became more and more unmotivated and lethargic as he advanced through school. One time, he and I had a big fight which was unusual. My mother saw us when he hit me and stopped us fighting. I didn’t say a word to him for some time after that; I was puzzled and hurt deeply by his sudden change of attitude toward me. It took me almost one year to start understanding why he had feelings of hostility toward me.

I was a beneficiary of the school system where my efforts always paid off; on the contrary, my brother was a victim of it. He, as a man, who is expected to support his future family, which is possible only when he gets a good job, was stressed out and jealous of my success in school. His sociability and creativity couldn’t get to sparkle in this school system. Thus, his self-esteem was often in danger. Since then, I have given a lot of thought to the education system. The relationship between he and me was recovered, but I would never forget the hurtful event.

It has now been in trend among college students in Korea to attend a university in other countries for 6 months to one year on an exchange scholarship. In my university, the opportunity is given based on GPA. Especially for the U.S., a 4.0 GPA or more out of 4.3 is required to apply because most of the applicants want to study in the States. I have never reconsidered choosing U.S. among others possibilities including Sweden, Finland, German, Netherlands, Spain, Mexico, China, Singapore, etc. Korea is a country quite far away from the U.S.; however, it’s no exception to “Americanization” taking place among those who have immigrated to America.

   The second Thursday of November is the most important day in Korea when offices and markets open later than usual, and planes can’t land or take off at certain period due to a national college entrance exam. The entrance exam is important because many believe that the lives of the high school seniors will be determined by this exam. In this exam, a grade in English functions as a key indicator of whether he can get admitted to a good school, along with Math. In my ALD327 class, it was very interesting to see that the ‘No Child Left Behind’ movement was related to students’ proficiency in English and Math. Both two countries have emphasis on English and Math for educating their young generation.  

             The English education I had been receiving spontaneously made me think that there exists a race superior to me. Unlike traditional teaching styles concentrating on learning grammar, newer English teachers try a new method which is exposing students to American cultures using mass media. Korean children are most likely to be scolded by their parents if they like watching TV programs more than studying, but watching them in English is even encouraged.  I don’t have experience of racial discrimination during school years in Korea where the population is homogeneous, with few foreigners. Those who have experiences living in the States before were envy of many because they could put their time and effort into improving their grades in other subjects or something productive.

             There are moves to introduce some of U.S. education policies to Korea by a few education executors, who were lucky to have a chance of studying abroad with financial assistance from their parents. However, it seems that we are having hard time adjusting to the system since we haven’t been fully Americanized yet. This is what I experienced throughout my education Here I am, in the States, as a future educator in Korea, still being confused where to place a higher value for better education.