U of I Students Meet Ruth E. Van Reken
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I am so thankful that a few weeks ago Ruth, the co-author of Third Culture Kids: The Experience of Growing Up Among Worlds, has met with some of us third culture kids at my school, UIUC (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign). I received a permission from Ruth to share this photo and her insights.
It was very informative and memorable for us. Ruth has given us presentations on the concept of CCK and how TCK fell under the umbrella of CCK. Of the many things that Ruth explained, what warmed my heart was that by introducing the concept of TCK she was giving us the basis of language to refer to our own story and experience. Most of us has never read the third culture kid books and had not known each other on a personal level.
Ruth emphasized that TCKs can be stuck due to unresolved grief, feeling like victims so they cannot utilize their rich resources and talents.
We have shared our own background, identity and sense of belonging issues, repatriation, and a hint of future career. It was emotional for many of us and the ties we could make with each other were healing. I think many TCKs are confused about where they are headed to, what career to pursue which can maximize the resources they have. Ruth told us, “When you are stuck, just do one thing you can do.” You can find one thing you can do and later this will lead to the next one thing you can do. Ruth said there were times she did not know what she was supposed to do but later all she has done in the past came to pieces. They made sense.
It was comforting to hear the truthful words of an older, experienced lady Ruth. Maybe she is pointing to the future. A future that points to another.
Michelle Kim
Hi! I am Miyon a.k.a. Michelle. I like exploring new cultures and languages like so many TCKs do! I have lived in Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, and the United States. Feel free to say howdy! ^^3 Comments to “U of I Students Meet Ruth E. Van Reken”
November 30th, 2008 at 1:24 am
Thank you so much for sharing this Miyon! Ruth is an incredible lady with a big heart and I’m very grateful for what she had done for us.
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November 30th, 2008 at 11:36 am
Well, I’ll just say it was a wonderful afternoon with the TCKs at the University of Illinois. Miyon and her group there are a great example of TCKs/CCKs simply “just doing it”…those who recognize they are of this heritage not waiting to make a big program but simply getting together to talk about their stories and share common feelings and experiences…and then inviting others to join. That’s how it all grows…Brice has been another great example for us all of starting where he was at (a super great techie) and making this forum available for us all. So don’t forget…you can do it where you are too!
I’m sorry I don’t have time to be on here all the time…but truly, it is a pleasure to be part of you all and to hear your stories. They are so varied and growing in concepts, they become more fascinating all the time and really, this group can and will be a powerful tool for good in our changing world as this story of moving among many cultural worlds becomes the norm in ways not seen before…so keep working on raising awareness and, as is already listed on this site, go to TCK article link listed under recent posts and add your comment so they (The Daily Beast folks) will know this is indeed a serious topic to talk about on their site…they said tomorrow, Monday, Dec. 1, they will feature this article more prominently…I have asked them to put a link to this site as well so I hope that will happen too!
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November 30th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
Ruth, thank you for your kind words. I am grateful that I have learned a lot from you during your visit to U of I. You truly have a heart for the world. Thank you for all you’ve done for us.
I have posted the link to your article “President Without Boarders” on the Facebook group Third Culture Kid United (Club) at U of I:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=24590643723
I have made a comment on the article at tckid but I will go to the site and write there again.
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