Essay: Facing Poverty with a Rich Girl’s Habits by Suki Kim Student name: xxx Student ID: xxx
Professor: xxx School: xxx
Facing Poverty with a Rich Girl’s Habits
Suki Kim, who came to the USA in 1983, wrote the essay “Rich Girl’s Habits”. Her father was a Korean millionaire and she was rich girl until her father’s company went into bankruptcy. Her family fled to USA, because as bankruptcy is a crime in Korea. Beginning of that time, her new life and fight to adapt in new society was started.
At first it was very difficult to adapt and everything was so strange for the “rich teen girl” as she had never lived before in such an ugly and poor district. Moreover, her big problem was with language. Because of that problem, children who lived in her new district — including Korean children (English-speaking Korean-American kids) who are settled in USA before her — excluded her from their activities. However all of them had emigrated and lived in nearly the in same condition, and it was not easy to ignore the class divisions of the previous country.
Also, she never thought of her skin color until shortly after she arrived in the United States. She soon became aware that she was Asian and her skin color is yellow. At last she understood that there was no choice but to adapt to the new society and learn English. Learning English is not as difficult as facing poverty. Her family’s fighting against poverty was successful and they moved to new better place in search of better jobs and education. She called her family a 1.5 U.S. generation, although they are 100-percent American on paper and official documents, because they already keep their own culture and own habits.
These are main point of her essay.
1. Beginning is always difficult. Never say die. If you try to do anything, everything will be better. They always fought against their poverty and they won. If they did not, now they might live like their neighborhoods.
Language is an important prerequisite to fit into any culture and society. Language is communications tool and can help us to express our ideas and thought. Also, we can learn any culture based on its language. That is why at first she did not adapt new society; she did not know the language. As she learned English, she also learned many other things, adapted and built her own life.
2. Sometimes going down is the beginning of great journey upward. Had her family not gone into bankruptcy, she may never have understand life this. Poverty gave her many things, including understanding humanity and her own spirit.
Reference
Duane Roen, Gregory R. Glau, Barry M. Maid (Second Edition). The McGraw-Hill Guide Writing for College, Writing for Life
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