Cultural Identity

As I experience life, I have been exceptionally grateful to be part of the Korean culture.   Growing up, it was hard to deal with the pressures and stereotypes of how I was “supposed” to be.   When I did not follow the expectations of a Korean female it was extremely looked down upon.   At a young age, my parents had given me high expectations for my family, school, finances, and social life. When I had started to fall away from school I did not have much support from my teachers or family, eventually school was not a high priority.   While having that attitude, I had many teachers and peers make fun of why I didn’t do well in school, especially being from an Asian background.   Hearing those types of comments really stuck into my head, especially as a young girl, and it ruined my attitude towards school.   In high school, I ran into a teacher who gave me the inspiration to believe in myself while respecting and treating me as one person.   He gave me the motivation to go to college and find my calling.   While taking general courses at a community college I wanted to explore my opportunities and obtained a job as a one-on-one aide for student with Autism.   While working at the school, I had an aide who did not follow a student behavior plan.   I had asked her why she did not implement the plan and her response was “why should I she can’t even do it.”   At that moment I felt the attitude I had received from others around me and knew I wanted to be a teacher.   I realized after all the negative reactions, based on my expectations, how to make a difference and become a teacher.   No person should be expected to perform in a certain way because of the way they look or where they come from.   As I grow as teacher, being considerate to each individual is so important to me.   I feel my beliefs come from being a Korean-American as well as being exposed to different cultures.
While growing up as a Korean-American I also had much diversity in my life.   I moved almost every five years...