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= My Dad's Relocation =



Introduction
Ever since I was a little kid, I have moved from apartment to apartment, primarily because, as time went by, the yearly income of my family steadily increased. Later on, during my kindergarten and elementary school years, I moved again to the United States, specifically Boston, and came back to Seoul to leave once again in fifth grade and finally enroll as a freshman at the Korea International School. It might not be come as a surprise for most international students at this school to have written quite a number of essays pertaining to their migration to and from abroad, and I am not an exception. Thus, I took this assignment as a chance to break off from my usual tedious routine and decided to interview the man who was responsible for bringing me to life: Dad. Currently, according to the very person himself, my dad is an intervention cardiologist -- a physician who is specialized in the treatment of patients with coronary artery diseases -- and as well as a molecular and cellular biologist who is specialized in stem cell biology and its application to the clinical field. With that said, it might not come as a surprise that he is an intellectual, and from what I have learned about my dad, he certainly took up the pencil and paper and an AP Calculus textbook at an early age. Thereby interested in the journey that my dad took to become who he is now -- a renowned individual in his field -- I vowed to maybe learn a bit from his past experiences. A certain event that quickly caught my eye was his migration from his hometown, Busan, to the center of all the activities in the Korean peninsula: Seoul.

What He Left Behind


Dad used to live in Beomjeon-dong, located within Busanjin-gu, the center of Busan. At the time, he was a 10th grade student and went to the Gumsung High School.



Gumsung High School was not exactly a comfortable, cozy school in many ways. To the dismay of students, some dead tired from the previous night's or early morning's intense studies, the High School was perched on a mountain. When summer struck with its sweltering weather, attention spans plummeted. What would happen is that my dad and pretty much the entire classroom would be busy fanning themselves desperately as sweat poured out from every single pore of their bodies. For two hours would such a scene continue on and according to the former victim, it was simply horrendous. Aside from the classroom conditions, many of the students themselves were hindrances to the academic atmosphere of the school. One of the key features of Korean culture is to respect elders, influenced chiefly from Confucianism. Hence, the older students in grades 11 and 12 were not exactly amiable towards the younger students, including my dad. But the most significant flaw of Gumsung High School was its poor education system. Just until few years before my dad's first footstep on Gumsung High School soil, the Korean government had imposed a public ranking system for all high schools within South Korea. Not surprisingly, Gumsung High School was closer to the bottom third of the list of over thousands of high schools, and hence, not much was invested in the school's facilities and the teachers as well. (#1) This also accounts for why many of the students in grades above my dad were not so academically enthusiastic. But my dad, was a very competitive student; once he had tasted the gold medal, he studied more and more to outdo his potential rivals. Then, on a seemingly-not-too-extravagant day in September 1976, my dad's homeroom teacher told him to get out of Busan and go to the land of opportunities: Seoul. A few months later, in February 1976, he left Busan. (#2)

//The man himself speaks of the reason as to why he left.// media type="youtube" key="vQVdhez0S3c" height="340" width="560" align="center"

His Destination


When my dad first came to Seoul, it was necessary for him to go through a randomized application process. This was to ensure that students could not apply to schools that they liked and consequently make it unfair for others who did not have such privileges. To his luck, my dad was enrolled into Wooshin High School, an expensive private high school. With his parents' support, he was able to attend the prestigious Wooshin, which, he said, was as grand as a college campus. But not anyone could get picked to go to such a heavily invested school. (#1) Only those applicants who had immensely good grades were checked as eligible future students, and hence, a battleground was set with hungry, veteran lions all eying the single t-bone steak. Upon arrival, with his fairly short height and unique Busan dialect, my dad immediately became a subject of ridicule. It would have been devastating for him, but he had a "successful landing" by showing others his prowess as a diligent intellectual who shocked his class by placing first in both of the entrance exams. (#3)

Conclusion
My dad was always a figure of authority. He was respected by his colleagues and patients, and soon enough, I came to wonder exactly what was it that made him this person who harbors clear dedication and an unrelenting spirit to back down. As I began to interview him and look back into his past, the shame upon myself became ever evident. While I was procrastinating my work, receiving unacceptable grades, and lying to my parents, my father had already gone by himself to Seoul in order to receive a better education that would help his future career. It was obvious to me that the level of self-control and determination that my dad possessed was not even comparable to mine. What started as a project that may have ended in another essay droning on about my travels around the world resulted in a kind of a wake up call. As I grew, I was always told to look up to my father, but I've never actually thought, "Gosh, I want to be like Daddy." Because he was already famous and becoming more so by the days and months, I arrogantly believed that this would be the path that I would eventually walk on as well. How I was wrong.

One of the few advices that my father gave me was to learn as much as I could during my High School years, for what I learn now stays with me forever and becomes, more or less, the basis of my future intellect. (#1) Well, I'm going to have to start my engines now, even though it may already be a little too late.