Heaven's guidance
After coming to the South, True Mother attended Hyochang Elementary School in Seoul. After she left Seoul she continued her schooling, even though she moved several times—to Daegu, to Seoguipo on Jeju Island, and to Chun-cheon in Gangwon Province. Her report card from Bongeui Elementary School in Chuncheon records that she was "very pure, kind and polite, shows a noble attitude, the most feminine among the students in the class." When she graduated from that school, she was given an award as an honor student.
True Mother then attended Seong-jeong Girls Middle School from April 1956 to March 1959. This school was purchased by True Parents in April 1987, at which time it changed its name to Seonjeong Middle School. In March 1959, True Mother entered Saint Joseph s Nursing School in Seoul, which today is the Catholic University Nursing School. 1 After coming to the South, we rented a room in Hyochang-dong in Seoul, and I entered Hyochang Elementary School. I continued in school when we moved to Daegu and then to Jeju Island. My mother moved us to Jeju Island in 1954 with the intention of raising me in a pure environment. There I attended Shinhyo Elementary School in Seoguipo, which is Hyodon Elementary School today. I transferred into the 5th grade. Then we received a letter from my maternal uncle. He had been transferred to Chuncheon and was posted as chief of the supply depot there. He asked us to move to Chuncheon, and we did.
We rented a room in Yaksa-dong near my uncles house in Hyoja-dong, and I transferred to Bongeui Elementary School in Chuncheon. I soon became a 6th grader, and I graduated the following year, on March 2,1956, in the schools 11th class.
Afterward, with the help of my uncle, on April 10, 1956 I entered Seongjeong Girls Middle School, located in Sajik-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul. I graduated as a member of the school's third class, on March 25, 1959. During that time I lived with my uncle's family at Donam-dong and Shindang-dong and commuted to school in Sajik-dong. (True Mother, 2014/10/11) 2 In middle school, I was the head of the Student Activities Council. I remember the time when I had to stand on stage and explain the council's decisions to all the students of the school. I later heard that after my speech, my Korean teacher and other teachers remarked, "Wow! Hak Ja, you were great!" People around me always had the impression that I was a quiet and well-mannered student, someone whom it was difficult to be close to. I guess they were surprised that a person such as me could give a public speech, although it was only a simple presentation. This was my first experience speaking in front of many people. (True Mother, 1991/11/10) 3 Recently, one of my old friends visited me. She and I once lived in the same town and attended the same middle school. Her father loved me very much. Another of my friends was my senior by one year. She cared deeply for me and used to say, "You are dignified and pretty." She later moved to Canada and often sent me letters. When she had opportunities to visit Korea, we would meet each other. One day I visited my old school and found that the teacher of my Korean class was still there. I can still recall his face. Also, I remember that my mathematics teacher cared for me very much. (True Mother, 1999/10/21) 4 When I started high school, it was not very long after the Korean War had ended. I remembered how all the streets had been filled with people injured because of the war. Children orphaned by the war, and even children with parents, suffered greatly from hunger and disease. People were unable to get any treatment when they fell sick. 1 felt so sorry for them. I wanted to heal their pain; that is why I decided to attend nursing school. I wanted to find a way to help them. (True Mother, 2013/12/06) 5 My teachers loved and protected me at every school I attended. I am not sure whether it was because I gave them the impression I was reliable and modest, but for some reason my teachers cared for me. Some teachers said, "You are not like most children these days. Go out and get involved." It was not that I had a lot of worries on my mind. I just liked to sit and stay quiet. Even during adolescence, when I was growing into womanhood, I never worried about my life because my grandmother and mother, who were always attending heaven, taught me to live in faith.
Under my mother s strict education, I spent my time immersed in reading books of various kinds. For a time I thought that I wanted to lead a country life with a couple of my close friends and plant fruit trees. My friends said, "Although you are very prim and proper, you will actually be the first of us to marry." I have not thought much about my student days since the Holy Wedding, so 1 cannot remember much about that time. Besides, I really have not had time to think back. Recently some old friends visited me, and that brought back some of these old memories. (True Mother, 1999/10/21) 6 I was known as a student who liked reading and music in a comfortable and quiet atmosphere. Also, people had the impression that I was quite intellectual. I was not extremely emotional or excitable. Come to think of it, I might have given a first impression of being a little cold. In the dormitory I lived like a nun. My life was sheltered from the secular environment, like a flower blooming in a greenhouse. Only later did I realize that my life was that way to separate me from the fallen world. It was heaven s preparation, so that one day I could meet the Lord at the Second Advent and become his Bride. (True Mother, 1977/05/03) 7 Until 1960,1 lived mostly in seclusion, as if I were buried inside my clothes. God led me to lead a simple life that did not require me to compromise with the secular world. God set up circumstances that thoroughly protected me, as if He did not want me even to breathe the air of Satan's world. In such surroundings, I eliminated my own thoughts and just led my life by letting God alone guide me. I used to write a diary. Amazingly enough, although I did not write with much thought, it was something like "Urie sowon-eun tongil',' meaning, "Our cherished hope is for North and South Korea to be reunited." Later, when I heard Father’s words on the subject, I recalled what I had written in my diary and found it very meaningful. (True Mother, 1999/10/21) 8 Mother is so natural on stage. The first time she sang a song in front of an audience was in her second year of high school. She was famous for her singing. Regardless of the audience, she stood tall onstage like a champion. (227-022, 1992/02/10) 9 To me, Mother is flawless. I see nothing but goodness in her. This did not happen just overnight. Whenever she meets people, if they are men, she compares each one with me and thinks, "This man has a quality just like True Father." By thinking that way, she can be open-hearted toward them. It is so beautiful. Look at her eyes and hands. They show how observant and sensitive she is. When she hears me speak a sentence, she analyzes its structure—what the subject is, what the object is, what the clauses are, and so forth. What I am saying is that she is smart and analyzes things well. In her teens, her friends said she was an impressive and unforgettable girl, and I think it is because of her powers of observation. When she went places, she was prudent about the route she chose. She would travel only on the route that she felt comfortable with. (435-020, 2004/01/31) |