Why Asians Are Obsessed With College by Gabriella

Why Asians Are Obsessed With College by Gabriella - April 2020 Scholarship Essay

Today, my parents are highly educated Korean American citizens. But when they were young, they were the “lost generation.”
My parents grew up in the torrents of a war-torn country that was physically in ruins, politically corrupt, and financially on the verge of economic collapse. The greatest concern for my parents was not whether they were getting an education, but, rather, whether they had enough money to scrape by. While other countries had glue sticks and toys and warm shower water, my parents had tubs of cold water and sticky rice and rubble. Eighteen grueling years later, one can only imagine the joy on my parents’ faces when they opened their mail to find the five rewarding words “Congratulations, you have been accepted!”
For my parents, college was almost an impossibility. It was something that they and my grandparents had worshipped and prayed for. To them, college held the same importance as a washing machine—an expensive but essential object that will finally bring their life stability and ease.
Despite this dated lifestyle, this very same belief still holds true today. Now, I could list all the statistics showing how college graduates get jobs over $30,000 more than those who hold highschool diplomas, have an unemployment rate of 5% compared to the 15.7% with a highschool education, etc., but all these numbers say the very thing my parents, and now I, believe: that college will bring more opportunities of success. Yes, there have been those outliers who have succeeded despite not having a college education, but even they have admitted how difficult it was to achieve their accomplishments without a higher education. Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Peter Theil, some of the greatest entrepreneurs, have all went back to college to get either an MBA or learn more about their fields.
However, beyond the statistics, college holds more significance than just money and employment. For my parents, college means that their children get to live a better life than them. Especially after living through the wreckage of Korea during its early years of development, college is a symbol or “good omen” for the next generation to advance and, hopefully, never experience the difficulties faced before.
College is important. It is where students get the first taste of independence, where students can advance their knowledge, where students can get a head start in life. But most of all, college is where I can finally give my parents the washing machine they had never had.