My hero
In ancient times, like the Joseon Dynasty period, children usually succeed their parents' job. If parent was a farmer, their children would be a farmer, and if their parent was a soldier, their children would be a soldier. But, these days, things got totally changed. The proportion of inheriting their parents' job is markedly low comparing to that days. Parents usually want their children to have a lucrative and stable job. But still, there are some children who want to follow the example of their parents.
In my case, I must be the latter. My father is a police officer. In my childhood, I thought that he was a hero. I was so proud of my father because he bit bad men and keep the world safe. But the things that impressed me were not only his job but also his lifestyle. Even though he was off duty, he kept studying hard for his promotion and working out a lot. Also, he tried to make time for playing with me and my sister. What a perfect father! He seemed to be able to do everything, working for the world, studying hard, working out, and even playing with us! He never satisfied with present and he always wanted to keep moving for better things.
Of course, I admired my father, especially his commitment to the society, and I decided to be a person like my father. To practice my decision, I regularly did volunteer job in a rehabilitation facility during my school days, and I entered Korea National Police University with a dream of making a wonderful society.
My father came home from works as usual, and my family finished our dinner. Though he had a habit of watching news after his meal, he willingly accepted my interview. At first, I asked, "What was your dream in your childhood? Did you dream of being police from early childhood?" He answered, "Absolutely not. When I was young, I was just a little kid who had pleasure in eating. If there was a dream, it might be a chef who can cook the most delicious dish in the world." We laughed and I kept asking, "Really? Then, how about when you were in my age?" He answered, "Actually, I didn't have a dream until I got my job." I asked with curiosity, "It's weird. Then what makes you be a police officer?"
The story started from when he finished his military service. After his duty, there were two choice, going back to university or getting a job. Of course, my grandfather forced him to go back to university, so he went to university with tuition, 500,000 won. On the way to university, he kept thinking, "What can I get from this university? Is it worth as 500,000 won?" The answer was "No." So, he returned home with 500,000 won and gave the money back to my grandfather. My grandfather was infuriated but my father's decision was firm. He dropped out of his university anyway, and he had to face with the question, "What do I do for living?" But he didn't agonize. He just took civil service examination.
I asked, "Wait, wait. Why did you take the exam? At least, there might be a reason for being a police officer." He answered with a grin, "I took the exam for police because it was the soonest exam." What a simple-minded man.
After studying about 3 months, he could be a police. At first, he worked in presidential security service. Because the office of presidential security service was almost like military, he didn't like the job. So he applied for another class and was assigned to Song-pa police station.
"So, did you like the job in police station?", I asked.
"Definitely, I found what I wanted.", my father answered.
Comparing to his formal class, literally he could work for the society. His duty was usually patrolling or being dispatched by reports. It was terminal job in police as a whole, but that's why he liked the job because he could contact people directly. To see drunken men, traffic accidents, robbery, murders, and suicide, there were so many people who suffer from the society we living in. He cast continuous questions to himself, "Why do people suffer? Why do someone do harm to the others?" After his anguish, he decided to be a person who can make brighter world where nobody suffer, and nobody is harmed. From this time, he lived life to the full with a sens of duty. Now I could understand his life a little. He was not born with a sense of duty. As he worked in police, he became a man fully motivated to make the world better.
"Then, how did you feel when I decided to go Korea National Police University?", I asked.
"As you know, I disapproved your decision.", he answered.
He wanted me to go to average university, not police university. Of course he loved his job but he knows the job well. The job is hard both mentally and physically, and reception in society and salary are pretty low compared to its difficulty. But for me, I proudly dreamed of being a police officer as a son of police.
He usually said to me that, "But I respect your choice, because you are doing well now. But like I told you everyday, the reality is different. Someday, you must compromise with reality. So, get ready for that day. Stay hard."
Everytime he said that advice to me, I couldn't understand, because I don't want to surrender in reality. But with his more wrinkled face made by his full of experience, I can understand his advice a little more. Although he is not a energetic person as much as he was, there is one thing I'm sure. He is my hero who gave me a precious dream that I will keep during my life.
yongsun hwang
ReplyDelete1 I liked that you use “Joseon dynasty period” in your first paragraph. I t makes me to more focus on and interested in your writing form the beginning.
2 keep moving for better things – what are the better things?
3 Since your father is a police man and hero to you, you want to be just like your father and decided to be a police man.
4 "Actually, I didn't have a dream until I got my job."
5 There were not many quotations in your writing, I think.
6 Add some vivid descriptions for your father’s motions and feelings
I liked your story because it revealed how much you respect your father. There are few people in Korea these days who succeed his father's occupation. But you decided to be a police as your father and how much you respect your father might have caused you to be a police.
ReplyDeleteBut for me, I couldn't fully understand what "Stay hard." meant.
I think thesis statement is "He is my hero who gave me a precious dream that I will keep during my life."
Direct quotation of "I took the exam for police because it was the soonest exam." was quite effective because it showed your father's characteristic which is not concerning about things too much and making decision quickly.
I think there are about the right number of quotations, because though there are a little direct quotations, there are much indirect quotations.
I could see some of the tense problems in your writing. Checking the tense in your sentences might help, I think. But it was a great job.
Hosun Lee/Chapter5 2nd draft
ReplyDeleteIn ancient times, like the Joseon Dynasty period, children usually succeeded their parents’ job. If parents were farmers, their child would be a farmer, and if parents were soldiers, their child would be a soldier. But, these days, things have been totally changed. The proportion of inheriting their parents’ job is markedly low comparing to that days. Parents usually want their children to have a lucrative and stable job. But still, there are some children who want to follow the example of their parents.
In my case, I must be the latter. My father is a police officer. In my childhood, I thought that he was a hero. I was so proud of my father because he bit bad men and keep the world safe. But the things that impressed me were not only his job but also his lifestyle. Even though he was off duty, he kept studying hard for his promotion and working out a lot to deal with the criminals. Also, he tried to make time for playing with me and my sister. What a perfect father! He seemed to be able to do everything, working for the world, studying hard, working out, and even playing with us!
Of course, my father's impact on my life was significant. I admired my father, especially his commitment to the society, and I decided to be a person like my father. To practice my decision, I regularly did volunteer job in a rehabilitation facility during my school days and I entered Korea National Police University with a dream of making a wonderful society.
Today, I decided to interview my father. He came home from works at 8 pm as usual, and my family finished our dinner. Though he had a habit of watching news after his meal, he willingly accepted my interview. At first, I asked, “What was your dream in your childhood? Did you dream of being police from childhood?” He answered, “Absolutely not. When I was young, I was just a little kid who had pleasure in eating. If there was a dream, it might be a chef who can cook the most delicious dish in the world.” We laughed and I kept asking, “Really? Then, how about when you were in my age?” He answered, “Actually, I didn’t have a dream until I got my job.” I asked with curiosity, “It’s weird. Then what makes you be a police officer?”
The story starts from when he finished his military service. After his duty, there were two choices, going back to university or getting a job. Of course, my grandfather forced him to go back to university, so he went to university with tuition, 500,000 won. On the way to university, he kept thinking, “What can I get from this university? Is it worth as much as 500,000 won?” The answer was “No.” So, he returned home with 500,000 won and gave the money back to my grandfather. My grandfather was infuriated but my father’s decision was firm. Anyway, he dropped out of his university and he had to face with the question, “What do I do for living?” But he didn’t agonize. He just took civil service examination.
I asked, “Wait, wait. Why did you take the exam? At least, there might be a reason for being a police officer.” He answered with a grin, “I took the exam for police because it was the soonest exam.” What a simple-minded man.
After studying about 3 months, he could be a police. At first, he worked in presidential security service. Because presidential security service was almost like military, he didn’t like the job. So he applied for another job class and was assigned to Song-pa police station.
ReplyDelete“So, did you like the job in police station?”, I asked.
“Definitely, I found what I wanted.”, my father answered.
Contrary to his formal job class, finally he could work for the society. His duty was usually patrolling around or being dispatched by reports. It was a terminal job in police as a whole, but he liked the job because he could contact people directly. To see drunken men, traffic accidents, robbery, murders, and suicides, there were so many people suffering from the society. He cast continuous questions to himself, “Why do people suffer? Why do someone do harm to the others?” After his anguish, he decided to be a person who can make brighter world where nobody suffers, and nobody is harmed. From this time, he lived life to the full with a sens of duty. Now I could understand his life a little. He was not born with a sense of duty. As he worked in police, he became a man fully motivated to make the world better.
He also told me that there were some chances to get involved in corruption. So I asked him, "What was your choice?" He answered, "I blocked any attempt to corrupt from its beginning." He told me a story of a criminal who tried to offer a bribe. "He was a wanted criminal fleeing overseas. Trying to come back to Korea, he got caught by police and I was the one in charge of his investigation. He suggested me that he would give me tremendous money if I do his favor, contacting his friends outside. But I gave a denial to his suggestion. Because I denied the first suggestion from corruption, so that I could have thrust temptation away for my police life, though your mother didn't like it."
I kept moving on the final question, “Then, how did you feel when I decided to go Korea National Police University?”
“As you know, I disapproved your decision.”, he answered.
He wanted me to go to general university, not police university. Of course he loved his job. But he knows that the job is hard both mentally and physically, and also, reception in society and salary are pretty low compared to its difficulty. But for me, I have proudly dreamed of being a police officer as a son of police officer. "But I respect your choice, because you are doing well now.", He finished his words.
Besides this interview, he often told me, "The reality is different from what you learn in university. Although you want to be perfect in every aspect, you must compromise with reality someday. So, get ready to face the real."
Everytime he said that advice to me, I couldn’t understand, because I don’t want to surrender in reality. But after this interview, to see his more wrinkled face made by his time, I could understand his advice a little more. I decided not to ignore his precious lessons from working as a police officer for 25 years. Although he is not energetic as much as he was, there is one thing I’m sure. He is my hero who gave me a precious dream that I will keep for my life.