For whoever wants to find out about my detailed story- I have only been in NZ for 7 years now and I am sure you cannot guess that from my English skills. I came to visit NZ for a month in 2003 and I loved it so much. My father, who had been to over 60 countries before he served his country as a police officer for 23 years in South Korea, was always interested in moving overseas. My father, younger brother and I moved over here first in November 2006 and my mother, who had been a nurse for 25 years in South Korea, followed 2 years later. Ever since we moved here, I had to be the one to sort out everything for my family to settle in as I was the older child who could speak English a little bit better. I was only a 14 year old child with limited English and I just moved to a new place for the first time in my life which happens to be few thousand miles away from my home country where we had no family or friends. I had no time to be frightened of the new environment as the things I had to do ranged from acting on behalf of my father for signing contracts for rent, insurance, bank accounts, electricity and escorting my father everywhere as a translator to waking up at 5 every day morning making me and my younger brother’s lunch for 2 years before my mother arrived here. It was our own choice to move over here but it was rough. It is still rough but we are getting there. I was under all sorts of pressure. I have had so many things other than myself to worry about in the back of my mind ever since I moved here which actually made me a more mature individual in return. I was aware that we were using up the fund we brought over from Korea as my parents were still looking for job positions at the time. I was aware that both of my parents had given up their family, relatives, friends and very stable occupations mainly for me and my brother’s education. I was also aware that our status here was not stable at all. The great thing about my family is, however, that everyone has positive mindset even when we are on the edge. You have no idea what it feels like to be living in a country without knowing anyone and learning a new language on top of that. We have been and still are living under constant pressure but ‘we are still here’. I have learnt to be strong mentally and physically. I have learnt to enjoy and appreciate everything including bad things and I also have learnt to cope with immense stress and pressure. This environment I have been living in had made me such a strong human being and I really can survive anywhere in any situation. During all this time living under so much pressure, I was focused on chasing my dream of becoming a doctor really wanting to give out to the people who need my help and I would love to be recognized as a genuine contributor to New Zealand Community. Not only that, I have been and still am dealing with things that no one could possibly handle; certainly not anyone from my age group. I have been living in this country as a foreigner with uncertain social status and future. I am still an international student as I have not obtained the permanent residency (we are expecting to get it at least sometime in 2014 as we have sent in our application in October 2013) and I was forced to take a gap in 2012 because I could not afford to pay an international fee which is 30,000 NZ dollars per year. What frustrated me was that there is not a single scholarship available for South Korean International students at Auckland University. You cannot get student loan or allowance as an international student, either. Fortunately, at the beginning of 2013, my aunt helped me out with the fee for the first semester but not for the second semester. Literally two weeks before the second semester started, I did not have the fund and was thinking of starting to work and coming back next year after saving up some more money. Then I started writing to my old school headmaster, Tom Gerrard, old school teachers, friends’ fathers and the church explaining my situation and asking for the fund, investment for the talent, personality and potential that I have to become a surgeon/doctor. Thanks to those caring people with warm hearts, I ended up raising nearly 25,000 NZ dollars, including one teacher who donated 1000 dollars. I was so lucky that time as I had no guarantees in the future. I was simply a Biomedical Science student who was trying to get into medical school, but this time I do have that guaranteed spot at Auckland University Medical School for 2014. I was very lucky to be able to come back and carry on chasing my dream to become a doctor. I am tutoring and saving up to pay it back daily, of course, but I am simply so thankful for their caring mind and love. What I want to point out here is that I have that talent which people thought was very special and valuable. My whole family is catholic. My Father is currently working as a painter for ANK Painting after running a vegetable farm (Well-being Veges Limited) from 2010 to 2012. My mother used to work as a caregiver at Forrest Hill Rest Home & Hospital for about 3 years and she is, now, employed as a residential care officer at Lexall Care in Henderson. My younger brother had just finished his secondary education at Rosmini College in 2013. He is accepted into Engineering at Auckland University but I think he will have to take a gap year this year, 2014 due to the financial problem with my medical school fees. My mother had applied for her permanent residency in October 2013 through her employment and once she gets hers, we will all be able to get one through her. To make things clear, obtaining Permanent Residency and the length of stay in NZ are irrelevant. It is only relevant to the occupations you have and the Residential Care Officer is one that fits the criteria. I believe the talent; potential and ability individuals have, are gifts. Every single one of us is gifted with our own individual talent and many have different gifts. However, in this world, there are fortunate people with more gifts and less fortunate people with fewer gifts. I consider myself very fortunate. I am thankful to be gifted with caring heart, maturity, independency, 24/7 positive and strong mind set, loving family and friends, good academic ability, good physical ability, good leadership, good cultural back ground, good language ability and most importantly ability to dream. I don’t want to boast but only thing I lack is financial ability. However, there are so many people who don’t have many gifts or just simply can’t afford to use their gifts due to their situations. What we have, whether it is your talent or your Iphone, is given by whatever that has created this world. We have not earnt it ourselves but we are either born with it or born in a situation where you can gain those things. That is the reason why everyone should be treated in fair manner and that is the main reason why I want to share my gifts with people who have less. Also, that is the reason why I want to use my full potential and not to waste what has been given to me and becoming a medical doctor/surgeon is the perfect starting point for me to do that. Earning the trust from patients is the most important thing in health care, my mother, who had been a nurse for nearly 25 years back in South Korea, once said. With my gifts, I happened to be an all arounder who can actually earn that trust from various groups of patients by always being truthful with the patients and also by offering the gifts I have. As I did so back in college, I can blend in and communicate with local kiwis, Asians including South Koreans (I am a fluent Korean speaker), Pacific Islanders, Maoris and any other ethnic groups, academic people, athletic people, foreigners, immigrants especially people with oriental cultural back ground, people going through financial hardships, elderly people (I, as a South Korean, culturally respect elderly people to another degree) and many more. I am aware that only wanting it badly is not a good enough reason for me to become a doctor, but becoming a doctor is the only thing I can think of that would enable me to fully share what I have and at the same time to be in control of what to share and how to share by being a leader and a decision maker. You are looking at a genuine, responsible and mature doctor-in-making with a lot of raw talents who will contribute to the society majorly in the future as an all-around doctor who will always give his best. All I am waiting for is that opportunity for me to shine and I am ready to give everything to do what I was born to do.
Posted on: Mon, 20 Jan 2014 00:50:49 +0000
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