未来への階段/ Staircase to the Future

Yuhwa Kim

The speech was regarding my personal experience and common concerns for young students who just moved from different country to Canada. The difficulties you face with the language barrier as well as the shock that comes from new culture, and not being able to adapt easily.

I was lucky enough to meet a friend who is a very inspirational figure to me, she was able to help me gain confidence back and showed me that I can overcome these barriers. Through her I was able to look back on myself more to think about what I like and who I want to become.

I thought sharing the story in a language that I love learning and possibly pursue my career in the future is a steppingstone in my journey. I felt very nervous on the stage but there was still this strange feeling of being comfortable and happiness because this is what I wanted to do. I enjoyed the writing and memorizing progress and I would love to take the chance to perform on the stage again.

"If you climb one step at a time and turn around later, there is a high staircase you climbed to get there," says my friend Claire. When I met her two years ago, I was at the bottom of the stairs to the future, at the 0th step.

When I was little, I was a very bright kid. But when I was 15 I came to Canada and everything changed. Unlike South Korea, all high schools in Canada had different goals. The moment the teacher said, "Everyone is free to choose what they want to do," I didn't know what to do. I can't speak English, I have poor grades, I have no friends, and during my four years in high school, I didn't like myself at all.

After graduating from high school, I really wanted to change. I started a part-time job. It was the first step of the stairs to the future. I met Claire there. She said on the first day. "What do you like to do, Yuhwa? I like playing games and talking to people!" She was confident and seemed like seeing myself when I was in Korea. Claire couldn’t speak English well, but that didn’t stop her. She spoke her opinion confidently. She came to Canada alone and she was working hard towards her dream. Looking at her, I also felt the strong urge to find what I like doing. "What do I want to do? Yes, I want to go to Japan! Let's go to Japan!"

I took the courage to go to Japan alone a year ago. This is the second step of the stairs to the future. There, I met a Japanese high school student. She wasn't good at Korean, but she helped me with the best of her ability. The important thing was not the words, but the heart. This trip to Japan gave me the courage to move on to the next staircase.

How high can I climb the staircase to the future? I wanted to figure that out, so I decided to enter university. And I'm here in the third stairs right now. This contest is my 3.5th stage. I will continue to climb the staircase to the future. What kind of scenery is there at the top of the stairs? I'm excited from now on. What kind of scenery can you see from your stairs now?

「一段一段登って、あとでふりむいたら君が登ってきた高い階段がある」 私の友達、クレアの言葉です。二年前に彼女と出会った時、私は未来への階段のいちばん下、0段目で迷っていました。

小さい時、私はすごく明るい子供でした。でも、１５歳の時にカナダに来て、全てが変わりました。韓国とちがって、カナダの高校ではみんな目標がバラバラでした。先生に「みんな、やりたいことを自由に選べるんだよ」と言われた瞬間、私は何をすればいいのかわからなくなりました。英語もできない、成績も悪い、友達もいない、高校の４年間、私は自分が全然好きじゃありませんでした。

高校を卒業した後、私は本当にかわりたかった。おそるおそるアルバイトを始めました。未来への階段の１段目でした。そこでクレアと出会ったんです。初日に彼女が言いました。「ユワは何が好き？私はゲームと人と話をすることが好き！」 彼女は自信まんまんで、韓国にいた時の自分を見ているようでした。クレアは、英語がかんぺきではないけど、全然気にしません。自分の意見はしっかり言います。カナダに一人で来て、夢にむかって、がんばっています。彼女を見ていて、私も自分が好きなことを見つけたいと強く思いはじめました。「私は何がしたい？ そうだ、日本に行きたい！日本に行こう！」 

私は勇気を出して、一年前に一人で日本に行きました。未来への階段の２段目です。そこで、日本人の高校生に出会いました。彼女は韓国語が上手ではなかったけど、いっしょうけんめい韓国語で私をたすけてくれたんです。たいせつなのは言葉ではなくて、こころでした。この日本旅行は私が次の階段にすすむ勇気をくれました。

私は未来への階段をどこまで高く登ることができるんだろう。それが知りたくて、大学に入学がんしょを出しました。そして、私は今ここ、３段目にいます。 このコンテストは私の3.5段目です。私は、これからも未来への階段を登りつづけます。階段の一番上にはどんな景色があるのでしょう。今からワクワクしています。みなさんの階段からは今どんな景色が見えますか。