Tom Jeong - International Scholarship Winner

Sometimes in life, you need to try to achieve something that is necessary even if you hate it. There are a lot of difficulties with coming to another country, meeting new people, and learning a new language; I know that these are very hard to overcome, but if you don't try, there is no pleasure of achievement. You might be depressed with your circumstances but that is not permanent; you can change your outlook with one little simple thing which is having a positive attitude. Hardship is not the end of the world, so no matter what happens, try your best at everything you do. I could be a great example for you.

I came to Abbotsford when I was grade 8 and it was a completely different world from Korea. I didn't know how to speak or how to act with others. It really strangled me hard; I couldn't even move or open my mouth. I cried a lot because I was homesick and didn’t want to stay here. Everything that exists in Canada was not familiar to me, so I struggled with difficulty. As the time passed, a lot of changes occurred to me. For instance, I started to comfortably speak with others fluently. I was no longer afraid to talk to other people.  Also, I learned how to respect others. I learned this from my homestay, teachers and Canadian friends; they taught me this really politely and nicely. Moreover, I realized soon that if we try, we can make it. I have proven this. I didn't know much about the Canadian culture and barely spoke English, but now I freely speak more than other Canadian Especially regarding my homestay life, my parents always shared more than one hour after dinner. We played board games, video games, playing outside or just talking about my school life. It was really hard time for me first, but as time went, it became most valuable time for me. While having time with them, I learned a lot not only about Canadian culture but about various aspects of my future life. They were really like my parents. We even had trips every month and it included camping & fishing, Vancouver downtown & Seattle tour and family gathering party. I also enjoyed helping others while volunteering. For example, even I was in really basic level of English when I first came, I was improved more and more and finally got a chance to do the peer tutoring last year. Peer tutoring is a student supporting system in the class with the teacher’s guidance and I did it in Japanese and ELL classes. While help younger students, I had a great time to keep great relationship with teachers and I shared my experiences with some of the junior students who were still curious and concerning about the school life.

Another valuable volunteering for me was international year-end party. Every year, there is a huge party for all international students. Many interesting games, activities, gifts and BBQ were provided and all international students, parents, homestay parents are invited.  I helped international teachers at the game stations and it was very fun because I could help people who have different nationalities such as Japan, Korea, Brazil, Columbia or Germany. With all unforgettable memories, I have a plan to go back to Korea and hope to major in engineering at the University. For that I already finished some basic science and computer courses at my secondary school and also prepared formal English test. After graduating, I will start a job related to computer science for a short time to get some general experience and then I will fly to some other countries. I figured out that Korean is not the only option for me and we have more possibilities and potentials in the world. Especially for me, Abbotsford was perfect place to learn about the world: multi-cultural life, proper working habit, effective communication and true friendship, etc. It was a whole new world for me and I strongly believe that more than four year experience in Abbotsford would be a tremendous asset for my future. Every new experience makes a person grow and it will eventually lead one to the entrance of success. All you need to do is not give up until you reach that entrance. In other words, you have to work hard and try hard to get a guarantee of happiness for your later life. When you are done this, you will live a happy and successful life.