Photo courtesy of Sarah Mack
Sarah Mack of Mechanicsville
has been studying in Seoul, South Korea, as an exchange student.
It’s been a whale of a year for
Sarah Mack.
The 16-year-old native of
Bowling Green moved to Mechanicsville in February, just two weeks before
boarding a plane to head to Seoul, South Korea, to spend a year as an exchange
student. Her parents are Greg and Chrissie Mack.
Sarah’s big move and journey
came after her scrambling to complete high school in Caroline County a year and
a half early. It was either finish early or graduate a year late, due to
logistical differences in her Korean and American schools, so Sarah opted to
pile on the classes and receive her diploma at just 15 years old.
The idea for her year abroad
grew out of interaction with some Korean interns at her Taekwondo studio, Sarah
said. What started with a few Korean phrases to help her interact with the
interns grew into a deepening fascination with their language and their
culture.
“I learn loving languages,”
Sarah said. “That’s my biggest passion.”
When her Spanish teacher
suggested an exchange trip, Sarah, who had studied Spanish for three years,
started eyeing Korea, despite the fact that she didn’t have much experience
with the language. No Korean classes were offered at her high school, so Sarah
opted to study Chinese before her trip since about 60 percent of the Korean
language is derived from Chinese.
Upon arrival, Sarah still spoke
broken Korean, but said she used other aspects of Korean life to help her
vocabulary grow by researching Korean history and culture in English, then
reading about the same concepts in Korean.
“Learning a new language can
change how you think about things, especially when that language is completely
unrelated to your mother tongue,” Sarah said.
“People talk about the language
barrier,” Sarah said. “But it becomes more like a bridge than a barrier after
awhile. Those eureka moments just make your day. It can be really hard, but
it’s so worth it.”
Sarah said she hopes to use her
love of languages, fascination with other cultures and experience living
overseas to pursue a career in international relations. She also hopes to
return to Korea one day to work with LINK, or Liberty In North Korea, to help
suffering people from the northern portion of the war-divided country escape to
and settle in South Korea or China.
“Their policy is to not get
involved with politics but with individual people and try to help them form
lives,” Sarah said. “North Koreans put their pants on one leg at a time just
like we do. They’re not any different from you and me.”
When she returns to
Mechanicsville this month, Sarah plans to spend her time until the fall college
semester working to save money for school. She’s applying for early decision
acceptance to several schools.
In the meantime, she’s learning
all she can, following the rigorous school routine that is standard in Korea.
Students typically leave for school as early as 7:30 a.m., and, after their
normal school day, head to private specialty academies called hagwons until
anywhere from 7:30 to 10 p.m. She attends a martial arts academy, where she’s
attained the rank of first degree black belt.
“If you’re in high school,
school is your whole life, even on Saturdays,” Sarah said.
In her down time, Sarah enjoys
living with the family of a friend from school. They take her along on
vacations and include her in holiday celebrations. On one recent trip to a
cabin in the mountains, she got to spend time with their extended family,
enjoying food, horseback riding and celebratory traditions.
“They were so warm and
welcoming to me. I started feeling like I was really belonging with this
family. It hit me that I’m in Korea and I’m a part of this – they didn’t speak
to me like a foreigner observing this cultural experience,” Sarah said. “The
best moments I’ve had here are the moments I really felt like I belonged.”
After all, she said, that’s the
whole point of the experience: integrating into the culture.
Sarah also has tried to use her
experiences to teach others. Along with answering curious Korean friends’
questions about the United States, she has started a video blog to document her
experience living abroad for viewers from around the world.
Her YouTube channel, which can
be found at www.youtube.com/user/sarahsseoulsearch/videos,
has more than 2,000 subscribers.
Her videos, some of which have
more than 10,000 views, cover everything from school life and how to prepare to
be an exchange student to tours of her host family’s apartment and a Korean
McDonald’s.
The experience hasn’t been all
sunshine and roses, but Sarah said she sees the bad times as an opportunity to
grow.
“There have been a lot of very
difficult times, but I’m so glad I came,” Sarah said. “I’ve learned how to deal
with it when things aren’t going my way. I can’t just go to my mom and tell her
what happened. I have had to learn how to deal with not only the problems in
front of me but my own emotions as well.”
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