Joy of Father's day
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6/16일은 father's day 이다.특히 대학교 졸업식이 많이 열리는 때이기도 하다.직년 아버지날은 내인생에 가장 보람되고 ,가슴이 쁘듯한 날이었다.큰딸은 STANFORD에서 석사로 작은딸은 UCLA 학사로 졸업식을 하였는데, 공교롭게도 같은날 비슷한 시간에 열리게 되어 ,하루 먼저 PALO ALTO로 가서 축하해주고 ,LA로 내려와 UCLA 졸업식을 참석하였다.미국에서의 보람이란 자녀들이 말썽없이 훌륭히 자라주는것인데, 외형으로는 일단 부모의 도리를 한것같은 보람된 날이었다.이곳에서는 대학교만 들어가면 대부분 집을 나가살기 때문에 ,그들의 속마음을 이해하기가 어려운점이기도 한데,우연한기회에 그들의 글을 대할수 있는 기회가 있었다.이곳에서는 크고 작은 단체들이 여러행사들을 통해 장학금들을 수여하는데,보통 선생이나 부모의 추천서 그리고 본인들의 ESSAY를 보고 선발한다.혹시 자녀들이 이곳에서 공부시키려면 특히 자기를 효과적으로 솔직 담백하면서, 자신의 의지를 표현하는 글쓰기가 절대적이라 하겠다.
Jin Kahng
As a first generation Korean-American woman, I am keenly aware of the advantages and privileges of my life in the United States. I will always be grateful to my parents for taking a leap of faith and immigrating to a new country in order to provide new opportunities for their daughters. I grew up in Palm Desert, a desert resort community in Southern California. While there were few Korean families in the area, my parents persisted in teaching us about our culture and heritage so that I would know my culture and family history. They instilled in me the values of hard work, honesty and the importance of helping others. Through their example, I gained a love of learning, reading and music. As a result, today, I am a graduate student in the School of Education at Stanford University. I am in a warm and supportive academic environment that has provided great opportunities for thinking about and researching the role of education in American society. What a wonderful life! I realize that without the love and support of my family, I would not be here now. I have been very lucky in life to grow up with a supportive family that always encouraged me to reach for my dreams and to take advantage of all the opportunities that America offers. The American dream is not an illusion. My life shows that there are wonderful opportunities available to everyone.
I do have the advantages of a loving family, a middle class upbringing and an excellent public education with wonderful teachers. There are continued inequities in American society and throughout the world. As I continued my education and pursued an undergraduate degree in liberal studies (elementary education) and psychology at Loyola Marymount University, I have had the opportunity to closely study American public education. I continue to feel that teaching is a noble profession. My parents have always stressed the importance of school and teachers. I have had opportunities to tutor students, teach beginning piano lessons to young children, and obtain my elementary teaching credential. I enjoy teaching because I love working with students and helping them explore their potential. Personally, it‘s an opportunity for me to give back the gifts I’ve experienced in my life. I strongly believe in the importance of life long learning, a love of reading, and the importance of helping others in the community. My parents provided a strong base for me to build on, so that I could more deeply explore these interests and ideas in my education. I hope to soon enter the teaching profession and teach a new of generation of students. There are serious problems and issues that need to be addressed in society today. I hope to contribute to this continued dialogue and awareness through teaching and continued education. While I don’t know what the future holds for me, I do know that I’ve been blessed with many wonderful gifts and opportunities in my life. I hope to always make a positive contribution to society and help other people.
