An Event that Changed your Life

Soo Jung Lee (Jane)

An Event that Changed your Life

I will never forget the day I got on that plane to come to America, it completed changed my view on family. Family did not mean much to me, they were always there when I needed them, and they were there when I did not. They were there a little too much in a way. I wanted to get away from them. But everything changed when I got here, now they mean much more than that to me, and I have realized they can never be there too much; they can never be there enough.
I was having trouble adapting to the college life in Korea, and I was having family problems. I decided that I should leave home for a while and experience something new. I decided to come and study in America. It seemed that was going to solve my problems. Coming here, I thought that I could start a new and happy life. However, when I got here, I things were very different from what I had expected. The courses in school were so hard that I could not understand them. Also, it was hard to get acquainted with classmates because I could not communicate freely with confidence. It seemed like hell. I realized that spending my birthday without my family was not fun, and spending any special day alone was a lot more depressing than I had ever imagined. I needed my family through the sad and the happy times. I realized that I could not live without them. Being alone in America made me realize the importance of family and their support. I started calling them more often. And even though I had never told my parents that I love them before, I started expressing it to them. Now, I learned to see that my family is a very special part of my life, and I am very thankful that I got a chance to change for good. Now I cannot describe what family means to me with words, it is something more than just a definition. It is a feeling rather than just a noun.