The moment when I could grow and be mature than before.
People have different backgrounds and those backgrounds vary from family to family and from person to person. Partly because of that, some people get into social life earlier than others and face harsh realities they probably have not experienced before. To me, it was in 2014 that I tasted little bit of bitterness of social life.
I was discharged from the military on 17th of July in 2013. I took a full year off and earned money to be completely independent from my parents, only by doing so, without any economic support, I thought that I could truly do whatever I wanted to do. Indeed, I saved huge amount of money which ordinary people around my age cannot even imagine. I had a specific plan to use that money for my future. However, in life, things changed regardless of my fantastic blue print. My sister decided, out of blue, to study abroad in U.S. and it would burden my family with huge costs amounting to almost about 200% of my father's annual salary. My family put our heads together and came to a conclusion. She crossed the Atlantic Ocean and arrived in Washington D.C. I was supposed to return to school and, a stroke of good luck in the midst of misfortune, I did not have to pay for the tuition thanks to the scholarship I had won before going to army. Although my parents said to me that they were able to give me a hand, I refused. I set a small portion of my savings aside and gave them the rest though they returned it to me after 13 months.
From that moment, my life was forcing me to get involved in real social life with full of harshness related to money. I got two part-time jobs as private tutor and worked 4 hours per day for 4 days (2 days for weekdays and 2 days for weekend). 120,000 won was the money I made per week, but it was not stable and the pay fluctuated depending on the schedule. Have you ever felt the feeling that money is after you in every second? Also do you know how pathetic it is for you to watch yourself weighing the costs every time? I had not realized before that all the things around me were about money such as meeting friends, shampoo and conditioner, toothpaste and toothbrush, toilet paper and so on. I will not and cannot forget the very fear which shampoo bottle going empty brought, bitterness which made my ego shattered into pieces when I had to say 'No' to my friends whenever they called me to hang out. Furthermore, as my former department had been dismissed by school authority when I was away from campus and thereby I had to change my major, my daily routine was going to school, to work, to library, and to house. There were so many times that I was frustrated and wanted to give up everything.
Nevertheless, I did not want to be overwhelmed by the situation itself. I know that it always comes and goes. After passing through the 6 month-long tunnel, I became firm, independent, humble, and confident. I finally found 'WHO I AM.' I do not regret voluntarily choosing the hard way instead of easy one. Over the course of facing the real world, I achieved many things that I might have not obtained until now and that constitute me now. Just like old saying, "No pain, No gain!"
Your story is very impressive. I can't believe you earned that much money to support your family and be completely independent. You must have had hard times and I can imagine your life through your details. Worrying about shampoo and toilet paper is something that I have never thought about so it was very interesting. I can see that you learned a lot of lesson through those difficulties.
ReplyDelete201202334 Kweonho Lee
I think It's really good for you to think about yourself because you know, history says It has been always right to reflect!
ReplyDeleteChangyu Kang
201101787 Gitae Shin
ReplyDeleteThe Life Being Chased by Pennies
How much do you think a bottle of shampoo cost or one pack of toilet paper? I believe many Korean young people in their 20th live in the same house with their parents and thereby they do not have to pay for daily necessaries. People have different backgrounds and those backgrounds vary from family to family and from person to person. Partly because of that, some people have to get into social life earlier than others and face harsh realities they probably have not experienced before. To me, it was the second half of the year in 2014 that I tasted little bit of bitterness of social life.
“Hey! Where is my coffee I ordered 1 minute ago? Are you still working on it? Who is in charge here? You are a terrible staff!”
I was discharged from the military on 17th of July in 2013. I took a full year off and decided to earn money to be completely independent from my parents. Only by doing so, without any economic support, I thought that I could truly do whatever I wanted to do. I worked seven days a week as an assistant in the Community Service Center of my town, a part-timer in coffee shop and a private English tutor. I thought that it would be easy if I do what I am supposed to do, which means I thought that everything would be fine if I only do things assigned to me. However, there were so many unexpected things behind the surface. Not every complainant was patient enough to wait for their turns, not every customer I dealt with in coffee shop was kind to me, and not every student I taught was a good student. Nevertheless, I pushed myself to the limit, for I was so obsessed with the idea of making and saving money at that time. Indeed, I saved huge amount of money (43,000,000 won) which ordinary people around my age cannot even imagine.
How could I do that? Well, it is because my parents and their house were there. Basically, I did not have to pay for anything such as having meals, sleeping in my room and so on. Therefore, I was able to maintain the cost of my living as extremely low as possible, 50,000 won per month.
I had a specific plan to use that money for my future. Unfortunately, in life, things change regardless of one’s fantastic blue print. Out of blue, my sister decided to study abroad in U.S. and with no doubt it would burden my family with huge costs amounting to almost about 200% of my father's annual salary. My family put heads together and came to a conclusion. She crossed the Atlantic Ocean and arrived in Washington D.C. I was supposed to return to school and, a stroke of good luck in the midst of misfortune, I did not have to pay for the tuition, thanks to the scholarship I had won before going to army. Although my parents said to me that they were able to give me their hands, I refused. I knew that they were economically in trouble already. I set a small portion of my savings aside and gave them the rest (though they returned it to me after 13 months.)
From that moment, my life was forcing me to get involved in a bit tougher real life with full of harshness related to money. I had to find a job for a living. That was not a problem of preferences but of survivor. Fortunately, I was able to get two part-time jobs as private tutor and worked 4 hours per day for 4 days (2 days for weekdays and 2 days for weekend). 120,000 won was the money I made per week, but it was not stable and the pay fluctuated depending on the schedule.
Have you ever felt the feeling that money is after you in every second? Also do you know how pathetic it is for you to watch yourself weighing the costs every time? I had not realized before that all the things around me were about money such as meeting friends, shampoo and conditioner, toothpaste and toothbrush, toilet paper and so on. I will not and cannot forget the very fear which shampoo bottle going empty brought and the bitterness which made my ego shattered into pieces when I had to say 'No' to my friends whenever they called me to hang out. Furthermore, as my former department had been dismissed by school authority when I was away from campus and thus I had to change my major. My daily routine was going to school, to workplace, to library, and to house.
ReplyDeleteThere were so many times that I was frustrated and wanted to give up everything. Nevertheless, I did not want to be overwhelmed by the situation itself. I know that it always comes and goes. I kept saying to myself ‘Hey buddy, your mom and dad have been working hard to support you till now. If you can’t endure this, shame on you!’ 6 months later, one day my father called me and said "Son, I think now we can afford to support you again without concerns."
After passing through the six-month-long tunnel, I became firm, independent, humble, and confident. I finally found 'WHO I AM.' I do not regret choosing the hard way instead of easy one. Over the course of facing the real world, I achieved many things that I might have not obtained and that constitute me now. Just like old saying, "No pain, No gain!"