Students Stuck In Between

Students and people in general all have their own paths and identities, but sometimes it is specifically difficult for people with multiple cultures and backgrounds.
[Source: Davide Bonazzi]

People figure out who they are throughout their whole lives, but it would be safe to say that it all starts sometime in high school. All kinds of people tend to put themselves and others in categories or certain positions. Now, this observation also includes Korean-American people, or more specifically, Korean-American students.

There is for sure some number of Korean-American students practicing Korean culture at home or someplace else with their families, while at school or just in the “outer world”, they speak in English and do things that revolve around American culture. For instance, conversations and perspectives about topics such as school in America, and even the way people dress in America, are undoubtedly different from Korean culture. This is not true for a certain percentage of Korean-American students; however, teenagers like myself, a large number of other Korean-American acquaintances, and Lauren J. Lee all have this particular clash of cultures within ourselves.

High school and college are important places and times where and when students can learn more about themselves.
[Source: Keith Brofsky via Getty Images]

Lauren Lee, a local Korean-American high school student, commented, “I guess I feel as if I’m divided into halves at certain times. One is Korean and the other is, well, not. But another thing I have on my mind is that there are times where I feel like I don’t belong in either place, if you get what I mean.” She finished off with a laugh, but what she mentioned seemed to be extremely serious and unfortunately relatable to other Korean-American high school students, whose answers were along the lines of Lauren Lee’s.

Korean-American students are all different, depending on each of their own situations and stories, but there is no doubt that many of them go through social pressure. Some prefer to keep their two cultures separate from each other and others tend to bring one into the other or mix them together. And a number of them do not have a clear view in either of them, making them become students stuck in between.

Jenny Kim

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