Student perspectives about scholarships and identity from GCC: Korean Campus Life in Seoul, South Korea in 2019
Esther Kim:
Q: How has receiving the LSA Study Abroad Scholarship impacted you and your experiences abroad?
The LSA Study Abroad Scholarship has given me the opportunity to live my study abroad experience to the fullest. Originally, I was worried about the cost of the program and the flight itself because both were not cheap expenditures. My parents own and work a small business to provide for our family and I did not want this trip to become a financial strain. I wanted to find a way to fund it myself to alleviate this stress. Korea would also give me so many new cultural experiences that I would want to partake in to the fullest. However, my concerns were relieved when I received the LSA Study Abroad Scholarship. This scholarship covered the program fee, which included housing and food, and the expensive airplane flight. I felt a sense of relief and gratitude because now I was able to plan for this trip to be as knowledgeable, relaxing, and fun as possible. I did not want to be held back by my finances and with this scholarship I was not. I did not have to watch every dime and stress over every bottle of water I purchased at a convenience store. I was able to experience Korea to the greatest magnitude and really soak in all the culture around me through food and different locations.
Q: Can you discuss any other identities that have impacted your time abroad (negatively or positively)? (Identities can include Black/African American Abroad, LatinX Abroad, Managing Mental Health Abroad, LGBTQ+ Abroad, Nontraditional Student, etc.)
I am Korean-American, born in America. I had always struggled with both sides of my identity, being that I was born in New York, but also Korean. I felt too Asian for America but not Korean enough for Korea. I did not know how to combine both sides into one cohesive identity. Slowly, as I grew older, I realized that I ignored a lot of my Korean heritage because I felt embarrassed by it. When I was an up-and-coming senior in high school, I started to become a fan of a Kpop (Korean pop) group called BTS. As I listened to their music, I started to have pride for my ethnicity: its language, its people, its food, its culture. I saw what I had been missing out on and how I had been hiding parts of my identity. So I decided to take Korean as a language in college; my communication skills were pretty good, but my vocabulary and writing were subpar at best. Then I decided to study abroad in Korea and it was the best decision of my life. I felt so welcomed and honored to visit and study in my homeland. I was able to see my family and meet many new friends in the university itself. Many Seoul National University students were in awe of the fact that I was bilingual and embraced both parts of my identity into one. I did not feel out of place but I felt accepted and celebrated.
Chandra Behr:
Q: How has receiving the LSA Study Abroad Scholarship impacted you and your experiences abroad?
Receiving the LSA Study Abroad Scholarship allowed me to not stress so much about the expense of studying abroad and instead focus on the experience. I probably would not have done this program if I did not receive this scholarship so I am very thankful. It was a huge blessing because it not only allowed me to participate, but also to bring gifts back home. Since my mother is Korean, I was able to get things that she found harder to access in America. However, even bigger than that, I was able to come home and share all the things that I learned and finally understood about my culture that I did not know before.
This program was invaluable for me because by broadening my understanding of the language, I was able to understand the culture-specific reasonings behind my mother’s actions and values that conflicted with my American mindset. This newfound understanding has inspired me to work even harder on my Korean-language study. I may also apply for a Korean minor at school. I want to be able to use Korean to communicate with my family and church community in addition to my future career.
Q: Can you discuss any other identities that have impacted your time abroad (negatively or positively)? (Identities can include Black/African American Abroad, LatinX Abroad, Managing Mental Health Abroad, LGBTQ+ Abroad, Nontraditional Student, etc.)
One of the biggest identities that impacted me was my mixed race. I am both Korean and American blooded so in Korea, I look foreign. It was a bit frustrating because I wanted to feel more Korean and less like a foreigner while I was there. I am not saying that I wanted to seem completely Korean, but I wanted that part of me to be acknowledged. Even when I told people that I was mixed, many people still did not “see it” so I felt almost like my Korean side was glossed over.
I felt this way the most when I would greet people in Korean and they would immediately tell me that I was “so good at Korean.” There is nothing necessarily wrong with that, but it really highlighted how detached people perceive me when Korea is a place that I feel so connected to. Despite this, I am happy to see foreigners being so well received in Korea. It was not like this when my mother was growing up there. I hope that Korea will continue to be more inclusive of other ethnicities and backgrounds.
