Challenges by Joo-hee

Challenges by Joo-hee - January 2018 Scholarship Essay

I didn’t even know the ABC’s. I didn’t even know what the English name for the United States was because everyone said I would be going to “Mee-Kook,” which is the Korean name.
That was me when our family landed in Washington State. My dazed six-year-old mind was puzzled to see my family so frantic - I didn’t understand why my mom was crying of frustration or why my dad was running around the house to help us settle down before he left back to Korea for work. I remember thinking how much I wanted to go back to Korea - to the way things were.
Luckily though, English clicked with me in the first year, and I was able to make friends and settle into the American life. However, my naive mind did not realize that nothing is ever settled, that transitions will always come with challenges. This was proven when I had to move to Oregon in my fourth grade for my mother to get her Ph.D. and when I had to switch middle schools and step into the world of seventh-grade cliques. Each time such alterations happened, I would anxiously question myself if I could accommodate them. Fortunately, I would always manage to. It wouldn’t take long for me to make great friends or to get good grades. Perhaps such experiences had prepared me; in high school, I was able to conform to the onerous schedules built up to demanding situations. I grew confident in my capabilities, and I made thorough plans for what the rest of my high school career was going to look like.
Then came another unanticipated turn. With my mother achieving her Ph.D., we had no more reason to stay. I was all of a sudden left to decide if I would finish high school in Korea or even at a private American high school. This was a bolt out of the blue since I had believed that I would graduate from Corvallis High, where all my friends and plans were. Agitated, I endlessly discussed my circumstances with my family and my counselor. It was difficult to see what the best choice would be. As I sighed with exasperation, however, I had a sudden thought: early graduation. I mulled over this option for a while. If I graduated early, I would have to do twice as much work in my junior year than I had in mind. The amusing thing though, was that the idea didn’t seem so bad. In fact, I was excited, not just because I would be able to graduate from CHS, but also because that meant I would get a head start on college. I would have to switch up my plans, yet the work didn’t scare me. I wanted to embrace and learn from this opportunity like I did throughout all the changes in my life.
I know that college will bring challenges, yet it is something that I value considerably, and why I wish to attend college in the first place. Challenge is what will enable me to build on my individuality and what will prepare me for my future beyond my student career.
Change - it was something that I feared when I suddenly had to move to a new country and learn a new language. It was something I had to get used to, for everything changed, even things I had never expected to. Thankfully, through some major transitions that took place in my life, I eliminated a part of the apprehension I felt for them. This was mainly due to my adaptability - my willingness to habituate. Who would have known, ten years back when I couldn’t even recite the ABC’s, that I would be getting an American high school diploma? Now I realize how blessed I am to have developed an eagerness to take on challenges. I see with clarity that all of these changes have depended on me to decide what to make of them.