Sunday evening, my Korean student sounded stressful and worried when she told me the news of her husband losing his job. The headquarter of the company is in London. They close the stores in the United States and Canada.
She told me, "Now I have to support the whole family. It’s a huge burden on me. We have to cut cost at every corner." She told me jobs in Korean companies are very very secure, but not in American companies.
My Korean student's experience captures a significant concern that we all share as the first generation of immigrants: a sense of insecurity coming from lack of support from our extended family in the new country and the fear of unexpected hardships like job loss or health loss.
I told her, many Americans become homeless once they lose their jobs and incomes. Here in America we have to create our own safety net by saving up while we have, so we can survive at least a year without any income.
In addition, if you are looking for something that you can count on in America, that's your skills. I can't overemphasize enough the value of skills and lifetime learning as the reliable asset in America, especially relevant in today's ever-changing economic landscape.
I remember this is from Mao Zedong’s quotations: 自力更生，艰苦奋斗（Zì lì gēng shēng, jiān kǔ fèn dòu), self-reliance and hard work especially in times like this.