Finding the Good

8:00 AM: Skye wakes up

8:00:10 AM: Skye decides to sleep for fifteen more minutes because of the comfort of her bed

8:37 AM: Skye wakes and panics

8:41 AM: Skye decides to get out of bed

9:11 AM: Skye finishes getting dressed and brushing her teeth

9:13 AM: Skye enters Tom and Debby’s to find Tom eating breakfast at the table

9:15 AM: Granola and milk

9:24 AM: Skye goes to retrieve dish soap from storage room

9:29 AM: Skye calls her Mom in Pennsylvania

9:35 AM: “I love you. I’ll see you soon.”

You’re probably wondering why I took you through a short segment of my morning. It seems completely uninteresting and mundane. If you read in between the lines, you’ll learn more things about my life than at first glance. I have a comfortable bed to sleep in. I have clothes, and running water. I have food to eat. I have access to a telephone. I have a mom who loves me more than I can hope to understand. I know some of you are asking, “So do I. What’s the big deal? “ The big deal is that most of the world doesn’t have half the things I have. If you’re reading this on your computer right now, then I hope you come to appreciate it all, including the technology you’re using right now.

Last night was an ordinary movie night at Tom and Debby’s. We watched a movie called A Better Life. Carlos Galindo, the father of a teenage son named Luis, works incessantly to move out of East LA, hoping to get his son into a good school and away from gangs. He must avoid deportation and keep his son from falling into trouble. There are depictions of immense poverty and migrant workers begging for work on the street. They live crowded in one flat. Illegal immigrants do whatever they can to earn money for themselves and their families. Many face deportation after being caught by the authorities. Ultimately, all they wanted was an opportunity to live better, as was with Carlos Galindo. Near the end of the movie, Luis visits his father in a detention center. Carlos pours his heart out, apologizing for failing his son, admitting that he loves him enough to give up his entire life. Carlos is sorry that he couldn’t give Luis any better. I cried.

Is it a little close to home for me? Probably. I really respect single parents. They have to be two different people, a mother and a father. More than that, I really respect single parents who are immigrants. My Mom’s effort to give me a great childhood as a single parent becomes clearer and clearer as the years go by. My Mom strived to keep both of us out of poverty for our future even before we came to the United States. I was too young to understand, but now I am learning of the struggles she overcame for me so my life would be changed for the better. For that reason, I grew up privileged.

I always believed that I had less than I deserved and other people suffered so much less. I didn’t have the fancy new cellphone or the $300 bag. In reality, I have so much more.  I have basic necessities, and conveniences that are in fact unnecessary for survival. However, I have my life. A few days ago, Debby said, “All those superficial, material things could never compare to who you are and what you’ve experienced as an immigrant from South Korea. Your perspective of life is something that can’t be replaced by plastic things.” She articulated something so apparent to her, but not me. Hearing this gave me the best sleep I have had in a while. I woke up this morning feeling chipper, but most of all awake. I don’t mean physically feeling conscious, but really feeling awake.

How about we all take a moment to imagine what it would feel like not to have running water or to have a hungry stomach before going to bed?

-Skye Jang

The original Social Security Act was passed in the 1930s, the era of the Great Depression, to combat skyrocketing poverty rates, economic instability of senior citizens, unemployment, and the struggles of widows or widowers. The Social Security program uses social security taxes paid by the nation’s citizens in order to provide economic security to the previously mentioned groups of people. Your personal Social Security Number (SSN) often times gives you identification and presence in the United States. Therefore, a common way identity theft occurs is when someone steals your SSN. I guess this means I received my identity last night.

Quite contrary to how momentous the occasion was, I felt quite apathetic about the whole situation. I haven’t taken the time to really reflect on how wonderful it is to have a Social Security Number. Wait a second…am I actually supposed to be happy that the government finally gave me a SSN? Maybe you can help me find the answer to that question in the next few minutes you take to read this.

When I first got here in September, Debby asked me to read an article titled “Help! I’ve Been Colonized and I Can’t Get Up…” by Jane Anne Morris. She addresses this phenomena occurring in the world concerning the public’s tendency to not take action against corporate exploitation of the environment, rather choosing to complain and blame other people. Jane Anne Morris describes the population in three parts. She explains that one of the three thirds “are preparing testimony so you can be persuasive at a generic regulatory agency hearing while you’re begging them to enforce a tiny portion of our laws.” I call that “groveling,” as Morris puts it, begging, sycophancy, being a toady, maybe kowtowing, even for the smallest of results. After seeing the fruit of all your efforts, you rejoice for the killing of 600 trees, not 2000. The government has us under so much oppression that small, minute outcomes produce celebratory parties with champagne. That is being “colonized.” So yes. I have a right to be apathetic that my SSN came in the mail last night. I have a right to question whether I should really be happy.  When it comes right down to it, are we living in a true democratic nation, when we have to beg for things that should be granted, such as an “identity”?

How about the other side of the story? An enormous number of immigrants are working day to day, and paying their taxes, praying that an opportunity to receive even a Social Security Number and eventually their Alien Registration Card crosses their paths. Do I really have a right to say that I am apathetic now? Let me take some time to explain to you what it would be like if I had never come to the United States. I would be living in a crammed, overpriced apartment complex with my Mom. I would be taking about an hour commute to school courtesy of the Korean subway system. I would be going to school and returning home, in the dark. My Mom would be working almost 24-hour workdays. I wouldn’t know how to speak English. I would have never known that there were bigger opportunities outside of my country. Ultimately, I would have never questioned the status quo. I’ve laid out both sides of the debate. Should I be glad about this next step towards citizenship? Should I question the government’s limitations on its source of power, the people of the nation? What do you think?

Now I realize that I talk about immigration and the government a lot. Maybe it’s because this has been such a large part of my life. Maybe it’s because it really matters that people know. Maybe it’s just because I’m eighteen and I’m pissed. No matter what the reason, it’s safe to say I’m still perplexed. However, in this post-911 era, I am well on my way to receiving an Alien Registration Card. That’s a minor miracle.  Oh, the irony…

-Skye Jang

November 8, 2011

How many times have you gone on Facebook today? How many emails have you sent today? How many Twitter followers do you have? How often do you check your cellphone for text messages, emails, or missed calls? We live in an era where “facebooking” is part of our daily jargon. We live in a place where cellphones are causes of car accidents. We are wired all the time. We live in a technological world.

Just this morning, I sent a half a dozen emails within 10 minutes. In the next five, I went on Facebook, and clicked the red notification flags at the top left hand corner of my screen that told me someone had written on my wall and sent me an inbox message. Facebook just happens to top my “most visited” sites list. Even without cellular service or a television, I find ways to connect myself to “the outside world” with a mere stroke of a key. Warning: I’m going to be cliché.

What has the world come to? I guess the real question is: why are we so addicted to technology? (I know it’s not just me)

The whole concept of the Internet, cellphones, and televisions was for people to be connected even when thousands of miles away, and for people to access available information quickly and with ease. We use this technology to do everything from downloading movies to reading the news. Traditional letters have transformed into emails, and phone calls have turned into text messages with emoticons attached to them to denote emotions. Youth, in particular, inundate themselves with pop culture, social networking, and indecipherable music. This includes me as well. This being said, I am not criticizing our utilization of technology. Rather, I’m trying to understand why we use this technology the way we do and how this consumption is influencing us.

When it comes to the impacts of technology, there is the good and the bad. Let’s begin with the good. We are able to connect with people we haven’t spoken to in years. We can access news quickly and efficiently. We have information at our fingertips. We can send messages to people without waiting for extended periods of time. Regardless of whether we acknowledge it or not, technology facilitates our daily tasks.

What about the bad? Exposure to media has caused a universal “negative body image syndrome,” amongst teens and young adults. We have given up traditional, more “real” ways of communication for ease and speed. We care more about who is tagged in which photo rather than what is going on in the world. People are invited to important events through the Internet. Our virtual lives are far more interesting to us than reality.

So…what does this all mean? I don’t mean that we should sacrifice our access to the Internet or trash all our cellphones. I understand the limits of living without the technology we have. I’m eighteen. But…what if we used this gift we have for better purposes? We can use the connection we have to the whole world to make our voices heard. We can relay information that we believe is important. Make a Facebook status, group, or event. Tweet. Send an email. Text. Make a blog post. I don’t mean talk about Kim Kardashian’s divorce or Lindsay Lohan’s next court date. I mean talk about something that’s really important to YOU. Yes you. Maybe that does actually mean talking about Kim Kardashian or Lindsay Lohan. Don’t let technology control you. Rather, master it and make it your own. What’s your story?

________________________________________

November 28, 2011

Last night in bed, I was thinking about who I was just a year ago. I was a senior in high school, bored and undecided. About what you ask? About everything. In twelve months, I’ve completely changed as a person. I always thought that change was bad. Change led to people growing apart. Change is different. The reality is that change is a normal part of life. Change shapes who we are through all our experiences, the challenges we take on, the obstacles we overcome, and the people we encounter.

My point is that I’ve even changed in the past three months. I could tell you all the new things I learned or habits I’ve adopted. But I won’t. There are too many things to mention.
Instead, I want to tell whoever’s reading this to have courage; courage to delve into the unexpected and unknown. I traveled thousands of miles by plane to the other side of the country. I had no idea what Nevada City was like, and I had to commit without knowing. Most teens and young adults aren’t willing to leave their life behind for something like my internship. Well, did you know that there are almost 200 countries in the world and seven billion people on the planet right now? Who knows how many animals and trees are in the world…it’s probably safe to say that you haven’t even seen a quarter of the world. I haven’t. If you have, that’s absolutely amazing.
There are so many things to see, to learn, and to experience to stay in one place for too long. We can never hope to understand different perspectives of the world without seeing them firsthand. By “seeing,” I mean more than just physically being able to look at things. The sense of satisfaction and adventure you get from leaving home and exploring new places is unreal.
This notion of having courage applies to anything, way beyond just traveling. Have courage no matter what you do. If you’re thinking about taking on a new challenge, just do it. No need to come up with more excuses not to. You will change. You will see the world in a newer way. It’ll feel remarkable.

2 days until departure. Until next time California.

-Skye Jang