졸업4 긴 여정의 간이역 ‘대학’ 한인들은 또래를 만나면 학번을 묻는 것으로 대화를 시작하곤 한다. 학번은 입학연도임으로 이를 알면 나이를 가늠할 수 있다. 동급생이라도 학번이 앞이면 선배 취급을 받는다. 미국에서는 “Class of”에 졸업연도를 붙여 “Class of 2022”처럼 사용한다. 그리고 이 “Class of” 는 유치원부터 대학까지 모든 졸업에 적용된다. 한국에서 대학 입학이 12년 학업의 성패를 가늠하는 척도이며 앞으로 펼쳐질 사회생활의 방향을 결정하는 이정표라면, 미국인들의 이정표는 고등학교 졸업일 것이다. 매그넷 같은 프로그램을 제외하면 고등학교까지는 집 근처의 학교를 다니지만, 대학은 전국 각지로 진학하기 때문에 어린 시절 친구들과는 이별을 하게 된다. 60년대까지만 해도 미국인들의 대학 진학률은 4% 였고, 70.. 2022. 2. 26. 36. Donna As Albert Hammond sang, “It never rains in Southern California,” it does not rain in summer. It only rains during the few winter months. It is impossible to hold the umbrella and push the wheelchair at the same time. I used the poncho style rain gear, and it was troublesome and inconvenient. I had to go some distance from the school parking lot to the classrooms. On rainy days, I wore a baseball.. 2021. 1. 29. 20. Short-hair Girl Once again, I returned to grandma’s home. Father was ready to get rid of Gu Pa Bal home and move again. He could not stay in one place for long. My aunt got separated from her husband and came home. The season was winter and it was during the winter vacation. In Korea, then, the kids would learn English when they move up to the middle school. A girl was getting English tutoring from aunt. It was.. 2020. 12. 29. 9. Special School I am not sure whether my father changed his mind or my mother convinced him. Few years later, they tried to enroll me in school. The first try was with the special school for the disabled children. I had to leave home and stay at the facility. My parents were not ready to send me to a facility and I did not want to leave home, either. So, that idea was killed rather quickly. The second time was .. 2020. 12. 11. 이전 1 다음
