Many students move from school to school, town to town, or even state to state. One parent may get a different job, resulting in an unexpected and scary adventure to a new town, with new people and a new atmosphere. But a transfer like this may only be a transfer of a mere 20 miles from the family’s old house. For Senior Will Stephens and his family, who moved about 6,600 miles back in 2010 from Seoul, Korea, this was not the case.

Will had much more on his plate than any average new kid at school on their first day. Everything changed for him the first day he came to an American middle school with a Korean background. Everything was different to him. This ranged from the social behaviors to the food and the official language of the U.S. itself.

“It’s just a process,” Will’s father Tom Stephens said. “There were so many things that were so different. The language, the customs, the food. Everything was wonderful but just a little scary.”

Will’s first surprise about the social behavior of Americans was when he noticed a 6th grader call an 8th grader, or an elder, by their first name. In Korea, this is considered very disrespectful because it is not formal to address someone older than oneself by name. While this may be overlooked by an average student here in Missouri, the little things in conversation were hard to get used to for Will.

Names weren’t the only difference. When Will arrived for lunch for the first time at school he was shocked by the lunches that were being served to students. According to Will, the food does not have the same quality as the school lunches he ate everyday back home. While he has become accustomed to the local restaurants and other American foods, he still enjoys traditional Korean meals.

However, one of the biggest problems for Will was not the American culture but the English language. Before Will came state side he attended an international school where students from other countries including France, Israel, America, Korea and the Philippines. While at this international school, Will did not learn English as well as he could have learned it elsewhere because of all the diverse cultures in one setting.

“It was very difficult to learn when you have so many people from different countries and different backgrounds learning in the same classroom,” Tom said. “They taught words but didn’t teach sentences very well. The school didn’t do a very good job as he didn’t know any English when he got here.”

Will’s English has been progressing ever since and today he is currently enrolled in 6 AP classes. AP classes take a lot of critical thinking and definitely requires one to speak fluently. While he does slip up in conversations and writing every once in awhile, he is still proud of how far he has come in the five years he has been here. Currently, he has been wanting to get more involved in the school his senior year

by joining the tennis team and attending school events. He couldn’t have gotten to where he was without hopping the language barrier that loomed over him before.

“I wish I kind of started learning English earlier,” Will said. “It’s one of the hardest languages. I’m still dissatisfied with all the errors in my social life and in school. Learning things at an older age is hard. When you are young you can consume knowledge easier. But from where I’ve come, I’ve gotten very far.”