My role model, my grandma, my motivation
By Yun Lee
EDI 600 Psychological Foundation of Education
School of Education
Long Island University, C. W. Post
March 26, 2009
My role model is my paternal grandmother. Although my grandmother has a comfortable life and is a happily married wife, mother and grandmother, she endured a lot of hardship to get where she is right now.
My grandmother was born to a single-mother. Growing up, my grandmother and her siblings were constantly looked down upon, by the people in the village, because they did not have a father present. Even though my grandmother’s mother came from a wealthy family, her parents refused to support her and her children. (It was custom that after women were married off, they were no longer a part of the family. The term used to describe a woman getting married is, “to get married away.”) It was difficult living as a widow but it was even more difficult to find work. Although it might have been easier to give up her children, my great grandmother overcame the difficult obstacles while diligently raising her children to become model citizens. I believe my grandmother’s determination is greatly influenced by her mother.
Around the time my grandmother was in her late teens, the Japanese imperialists were looking for young, unmarried women to use as their sex slaves. Worried that my grandmother would become one of these comfort women, her mother quickly married her off as a second wife to a rich merchant of the town. After their marriage was consummated, my grandmother’s husband gave her a small house and a son and walked out of their lives. My father was born right at the end of the Korean War. Although times were bleak and uncertain, my grandmother used the same maternal instincts as her mother and worked hard to provide a life and education for my father.
Being a single mother for the majority of my father’s life, my grandmother met a nice gentleman when my father was 18. They got married and when my grandmother was 40 years old, had a son. Because my grandmother had already been established by the time she met my grandfather, many people in the village new about her. A few years after my uncle was born, a homeless person can to my grandmother asking her to take in a baby girl; my grandmother decided to adopt her and raise her as her daughter.
I don’t see my grandmother as a human being. She is a person who is so compassionate while being so strong-willed and determined. She is independent and smarter than any college-educated male while she is also feminine. She is the type of person who never stops at a task until she is completely satisfied and complete. She is also the type of person who will make sure to dress neatly and be dainty as a woman should be. She always tells me to do my best at everything and that education is important. She tells me that I am lucky that I have the opportunity to attend school and that I should make every effort to take advantage. For as long I can remember the one thing she always repeats to me is, “knowledge is the one thing no one can steal but something that everyone wants.” Even now as my own mother is worried about my marital future, my grandmother always tells me to get married when I am completely done with my studies. Unlike other grandmothers she even tells me that it is okay for me not to get married and that if I wished, I should devote my life to studying.
It is my grandmother’s determination, humanity, intelligence and her ability to still be a woman that I would love to live by. It would be a greater blessing for her to live long enough to see me become the person I aspire. And I believe with the traits of my grandmother, I can apply it to my teaching and my classrooms to become a mentor to my students as my grandmother has been for me.
Long Island University, C. W. Post
March 26, 2009
My role model is my paternal grandmother. Although my grandmother has a comfortable life and is a happily married wife, mother and grandmother, she endured a lot of hardship to get where she is right now.
My grandmother was born to a single-mother. Growing up, my grandmother and her siblings were constantly looked down upon, by the people in the village, because they did not have a father present. Even though my grandmother’s mother came from a wealthy family, her parents refused to support her and her children. (It was custom that after women were married off, they were no longer a part of the family. The term used to describe a woman getting married is, “to get married away.”) It was difficult living as a widow but it was even more difficult to find work. Although it might have been easier to give up her children, my great grandmother overcame the difficult obstacles while diligently raising her children to become model citizens. I believe my grandmother’s determination is greatly influenced by her mother.
Around the time my grandmother was in her late teens, the Japanese imperialists were looking for young, unmarried women to use as their sex slaves. Worried that my grandmother would become one of these comfort women, her mother quickly married her off as a second wife to a rich merchant of the town. After their marriage was consummated, my grandmother’s husband gave her a small house and a son and walked out of their lives. My father was born right at the end of the Korean War. Although times were bleak and uncertain, my grandmother used the same maternal instincts as her mother and worked hard to provide a life and education for my father.
Being a single mother for the majority of my father’s life, my grandmother met a nice gentleman when my father was 18. They got married and when my grandmother was 40 years old, had a son. Because my grandmother had already been established by the time she met my grandfather, many people in the village new about her. A few years after my uncle was born, a homeless person can to my grandmother asking her to take in a baby girl; my grandmother decided to adopt her and raise her as her daughter.
I don’t see my grandmother as a human being. She is a person who is so compassionate while being so strong-willed and determined. She is independent and smarter than any college-educated male while she is also feminine. She is the type of person who never stops at a task until she is completely satisfied and complete. She is also the type of person who will make sure to dress neatly and be dainty as a woman should be. She always tells me to do my best at everything and that education is important. She tells me that I am lucky that I have the opportunity to attend school and that I should make every effort to take advantage. For as long I can remember the one thing she always repeats to me is, “knowledge is the one thing no one can steal but something that everyone wants.” Even now as my own mother is worried about my marital future, my grandmother always tells me to get married when I am completely done with my studies. Unlike other grandmothers she even tells me that it is okay for me not to get married and that if I wished, I should devote my life to studying.
It is my grandmother’s determination, humanity, intelligence and her ability to still be a woman that I would love to live by. It would be a greater blessing for her to live long enough to see me become the person I aspire. And I believe with the traits of my grandmother, I can apply it to my teaching and my classrooms to become a mentor to my students as my grandmother has been for me.
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