Today I received a wonderful compliment from one of my high school students. To give some context to the essay snippet below: I teach at a public boarding school where the students stay on-campus 5 or 6 nights a week. Most of them are from the area, so they can easily go home on the weekend. But some, like the student in this story, have to travel 4+ hours one way by bus, so they don’t go home nearly as often. It’s hard on all of them, but especially so for those who only see their friends and family once every few weeks or months.

I felt importance of family after I entered into high school. I was excited because I can leave house. That is, I’m free of parents’ restrain. I was excited for about two months but when date was June, I miss my family and dogs. I go to the house just once in two months. Therefore, I hate that my friends say like this, “I miss my family,” “I want to go home.” They go to the house just once a week! So, I used to get angry when they say like that. So, I respect Nathan teacher! Although he lives in USA, he always live brightly in Korea as if he is Korea. He can speak Korean very well. He is my role model.

It’s small things like this that make this whole experience worth it, and prove how important it is to always be presenting my best, most positive self. Actions (and attitudes) speak louder than language barriers.