The 1980s: A College Experience

Posted on December 21, 2022 by JimS

Lauren Arakaki
Student, Kapi’olani Community College
University of Hawai’i

We are often asked, “What are you planning to do after high school?” For many of us, the answer is usually “I plan to attend college.” My mom, Ardis, shares her story on how college was for her in the 1980s and early 1990s. College was quite different in the past, compared to college today. Some of these differences included price, enrollment numbers, and the number of years it took a student to graduate. Considering that I am attending college right now, what better way to show the evolution of college life than reflecting on her personal accounts and experiences when she was my age? Because of these differences, I am reflecting on my own experiences and how they are considerably different from my mom’s.

It was a Saturday afternoon. The sun was glistening through the white beams of our porch. My mom was going through her late aunty’s belongings, looking to see what should be kept and what should be donated. I came out and sat next to her when she found a black and white photograph of her aunty and father as young teenagers. My mom, five feet two inches tall with fair skin and long black hair, has always been someone I looked up to. Despite the fact that she was my mom, from the time I was old enough to understand the many hardships of life, I was quick to learn that she is one of the most independent and hard-working people I know.

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Technology in the 1970s: Teens in South Korea

Posted on December 21, 2022 by JimS

Sarah Pae
Student, Kapi’olani Community College
University of Hawai’i

Living in South Korea in the 1970s could be described as very poverty-racked and unsophisticated, or, in other words, a lot of Korean people lived a simple yet rough life. Back then, your economic background would have a huge impact on your lifestyle. To clarify, in Korea at the time, there was a countryside and a city side. Due to the poor economy, the people in the city lived a more comfortable life.  

My mother lived in the countryside, so she’s had many hard challenges to overcome from being able to take warm, hot showers, receiving fresh bread from the market on special occasions and only being able to write letters, or using beepers to receive messages. It is fascinating how you can see technology being developed so quickly throughout the years, from writing and receiving letters to using smartphones and being able to look up anything on the Internet. Living in South Korea in the 1970s is best described as very different and not as complex as today.  

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