Welcome to the Swarthmore Migration Project web site!
Please check out our latest features and be sure to leave a comment or two!The LA Times featured my hometown of El Monte, California in an article today about how the economic downturn is leading to a reversal of small fortunes and an upswing in gang violence.
Asian-American magazine Hyphen’s blog asked readers to blog about their own immigration stories or the stories of their parents. 17 bloggers responded with 300-word stories about how transnational migration and culture shock affect family relationships and personal identities.
In what may be a sign of an increasing awareness of the (long-standing) relevance of geographical factors relating to world poverty, hunger, and political and economic development, among other global concerns, both the United Nations and the World Bank have dedicated their respective 2009 annual development reports to the theme of geography.
While the official publication date of the United Nations’ 2009 Human Development Report is October 2009, the U.N. has provided an early synopsis of the report’s contents. Entitled “Human Development on the Move,” the 2009 report will focus on the role of migration in global human development outcomes. “The starting point” of the report “is that the global distribution of capabilities is extraordinarily unequal, and that this is a major driver for movement of people.” Defining the thrust of the report further they write, “migration can expand their choices– in terms of incomes, accessing services and participation, for example – but the opportunities open to people vary from those who are best endowed to those with limited skills and assets. These underlying inequalities, which can be compounded by policy distortions, will be a theme of the report.”
While discussing a somewhat narrower theme, relating geography firstly to economic, rather than human, development issues, the World Bank’s 2009 World Development Report entitled, “Reshaping Economic Geography,” is an interesting companion read to the HDR. The report suggests that “economic integration” is the linchpin to achieving widespread economic development; while they predict that “economic growth will be unbalanced,” a policy of “economic integration,” they believe, will promote positive growth via “agglomeration economies” such that “people who start their lives far away from economic opportunity can benefit from the growing concentration of wealth in a few places.” To achieve this goal, they argue that governments should emphasize “institutions that unify all places and put in place infrastructure that connects some places to others.”
As the WDR rightly notes, “migration results from forces that ‘pull’ as well as those that ‘push’ individuals to leave.” While global economic competitiveness can be pursued as one goal, true success in the domain of development will not be achieved unless individual wants—education, health, hunger—are addressed first. Governments should see the benefits in flourishing local (and less-dense) economies and should protect and enhance the way of life of the small and medium-sized village, rather than indiscriminately encourage the growth of megalopolises.
The New York Times’ Bits blog features Christine Doyle, the immigration specialist for Google who was mentioned in Sunday’s article on foreign-born tech industry workers. The post details a typical Monday on the job for Doyle, who helps Google’s foreign-born employees navigate complex immigration laws. She also helps them confront the emotional challenges that arise when visa problems separate families and put jobs on the line.
Hena Choi '11
This is our first installment in a series of interviews with Swarthmore international students. We hope to showcase the international student experience and explore the reasons why students leave their home countries to come to study in the United States.
Hena Choi ‘11 was born in Seoul, South Korea. In this interview, she discussed her reasons for coming to study in the United States, the surprises of her Swarthmore experience, and where she sees herself after graduation.
SMP: What was your main reason in choosing to go to school in the United States?
Hena: If I went to a college in Korea, my major would have been set at the moment I entered college. I wanted something pretty different, where I could get a liberal arts education, find more interests that I haven’t really seen before. That’s my main reason for coming to the States. Also, my high school was a specialized program, so most kids in my school went to the United States, or the UK, or other countries to study.
SMP: When did you make the decision to study outside of South Korea?
Hena: Actually at the time I was entering high school I wasn’t thinking about going to the States, but a lot of people were going to the States, and I heard a lot of good stories from the people who went to the States. I met a lot of them, and they talked about their experiences here, and then I became really attracted to the idea of coming to the States. So, I think I began thinking about going to the United States around 10th grade.
SMP: What was the biggest challenge of applying as an international student?
Hena: I feel that the biggest problem was that because of the geographic distance, I couldn’t actually visit the colleges. All the information I depended on came from books, or conversations with people studying in the states, even talking to people through instant messaging. I wanted to visit Swarthmore before coming here but I couldn’t, so that was the biggest problem.
SMP: What do you think motivates international students to study outside of their home country?
Hena: I think the reason is different for each person. It really depends. At least for my friends, a lot of them already had an international background. For example, more than half of the population of my high school, they’ve lived in foreign countries before coming to high school, so they were used to a very diverse environment compared to the environment they grew up in. Korean universities would be pretty homogeneous, so I think they wanted something different, something where they could meet more people, get exposed to new cultures.
SMP: Why do you think there is such a strong presence of international students at Swarthmore from South Korea?
Hena: I feel like it’s a trend, because there are a few high schools that are considered to be really good, and consistently send a lot of students to good colleges in the States, and foreign countries, and it’s really competitive to get into those high schools. People think it’s a route, they think that if they go to those high schools, they’re going to go abroad. So I think it’s a trend.
SMP: Do you see yourself pursuing your professional career in South Korea or staying abroad?
Hena: I’m currently thinking a lot about that issue. It really depends on how things work out. I mean, I might work in a completely new country, like somewhere in Latin America or Europe. I can’t really say about that now.
SMP: Do you feel like South Korean international students tend to return to South Korea after their studies or stay abroad?
Hena: I think it’s really different depending on your major, but at least among my friends, like people who did engineering, they tend to stay in the States, and it tends to be related to visa problems, as well, the easiness of getting a visa. For guys, because they have to do military service, they have to go back to Korea for a while.
SMP: What surprised you when you first came to the United States?
Hena: Actually, before coming here, I was expecting too much cultural shock, so that I wasn’t really shocked [when I got here]. One of the main things that really surprised me was, I came here by shuttle, as soon as I got to Swarthmore, and that was my first time at Swat. As soon as I got off the shuttle, I met some Swatties who were trying to help me, and the first question they asked me was, “Hey, can I help you?” No one says that in Korea unless they know you, no one says “hi.” I was kind of suspicious at first. It was like a culture shock to me. There were a few small things that were new to me, like people eating in class, bringing yogurt to class and eating. That was considered to be blasphemy in Korea, if you bring something to class and eat it, your teachers would get really mad at you. Now I’m eating yogurt and cereal and everything in class, it’s an adjustment!
Photo courtesy of Hena Choi.
The New York Times ran an article yesterday featuring this year’s New York Times Scholars. These New York City high school seniors, many of whom are recent immigrants, had overcome immense struggles in order to get into college. The article begins with the story of a young woman from China who lives on her own in Queens and lives on just $10 a month after rent.
The New York Times recently profiled Minneapolis’ Hennepin County Medical Center to look at how immigrants are changing the structure of the American medical system. Besides adjusting to what were once exotic diseases, the health care systems that serve these new immigrants must adjust to language and cultural differences. For instance, those suffering from common “American conditions” like obesity and diabetes are unfamiliar with the life-long treatments that such diseases require. Furthermore, hospitals must deal with the problem of providing medical treatment for uninsured illegal immigrants, which puts major pressure on the system.
Danwei translated a CBNweekly article about how the South Korean community in China is affected by the economic crisis. Many Koreans are going home because the value of the won compared to the RMB has slipped considerably.
