'I want to help those who feel alienated'

By Lee Kyung-min

Song Sara

Born and raised in Argentina after her Korean parents moved there in 1996, Song Sara, 20, came here for the first time last July, to attend university.

She said she wants to become a nurse and treat not only physical injury but also inner pain, the way her mother did for her.

The freshman at Ewha Womans University School of Nursing said she is excited to study nursing in her home country and follow in her mother’s footsteps.

“I am truly happy that I was admitted to the school of my dreams, and I look forward to becoming the nurse that I’ve always wanted to be ― the one who takes care of her patients beyond the physical injury, just like my mother,” she said.

Song, who has received an Overseas Koreans Foundation scholarship, is fluent in Korean, Spanish and Portuguese. She is also learning French and German.

“I am happy that I am able to study here to benefit from advanced education and training programs for nursing than where I lived,” she said.

Her mother, 49, who was a nurse here before moving to Argentina, has always inspired her to pursue her dreams.

“I used to fall down stairs and trip a lot, but never once did she blame me or get angry with me for not being attentive enough,” she said. “She always cared how much I was hurting and told me that I would get better soon.

“By the time that she patted me on my head, smiled and said, ‘Everything’s okay,’ somehow the pain I felt was, or seemed, already to have gone away. I would like to do the same with the patients I treat.”

She said that as she was the only Asian at her schools in Rosario, Argentina, she experienced discrimination.

“I had different looks than the other children,” she said. “That is why I think I feel closer to children from multicultural families here.”

Affectionate support from others, however small, could change the lives of many, she said.

“Every time I felt depressed, my mom always encouraged me to be strong, never give in to outside pressure and do what I really wanted to do. I think many of the children from multicultural families need such encouragement. I would like to be the one inspiring them.”