The fact that 90% of an adult-sized brain grows before Kindergarten has been scientifically proven yet universally unnoticed. By the first decade of a child’s life, brain cells in the frontal region continuously multiply in the prefrontal cortex, where decision-making and cognitive control are performed. At this age, it is common to see signs of personal independent thinking skills and empathy growing as social behavior becomes more apparent. But when puberty begins enlarging and maturing the 10% left of the adult human brain, the mechanics of the previous 90% become the foundation for the response of a teen’s future actions. Essentially, while external and internal influences shape one’s course of action, core values and past experiences will predominantly be kept as the basis of our future intentions.

          Throughout the history of mankind, humans have progressively adapted physically and emotionally into their uniquely independent societies and beings. From childhood to adulthood, there have been numerous accounts of human change as survival forced integration. Change in the human body is not unheard of, especially when all people face the physical transition into adolescence. But at this stage of life, each individual also experiences the duality of external and internal influences other than undergoing bodily change in lieu of aging. Take high school, for instance, this time of turbulent change of the body also affects the mind, giving teenagers the means to be affected and changed. By these means, change in human behavior is not limited to biological adaptations. Both external and internal influences surrounding one’s lifestyle and identity are a part of human nature. Just like so, these forced factors structurize the human race and our drive to grow and adapt physically and emotionally. Human change is inevitable. It becomes a given for humans to change over time anatomically and emotionally. Ultimately, the unpredictable course of biological, external, and internal factors surrounding an individual ensures change. There will always be inevitable yet universal causes for human transformation, but that does not mean everything is forgotten and lost. Like how high schoolers still remember their younger selves before exploring the physical and emotional changes at school. We maintain our own values and intentions as children even though there have been outer, inner, and physical changes throughout our lifetime.                            Everyone has their own life stories that come with their outcomes. I have learned that these outcomes come with core values that shape our current perspective on life in so many aspects. In my case, I was raised in an Asian immigrant household where patience is a virtue. If it weren’t for my stern but supportive family members, I doubt I would be the same person today with the same attributes like obedience. But apart from my family’s wisdom, there was another element my Asian immigrant household taught me: the purpose of life stories. Whenever I heard stories about my grandparents and my parents’ life stories, it was surreal to know that someone I knew accomplished such a feat. These stories were typically but subtly based on accomplishment since any Asian immigrant household–especially mine–liked to express their hardships in a narrative. One of these stories particularly struck me when my grandmother on my mother’s side told me about her life after crossing the north border in Korea. At this time, I was 9 years old and turning 10. My grandmother had just flown from her house in Dallas, Texas, to ours when she decided to shed a little light on her past. Before she was born, tensions were rising between the north and south sides of the Korean peninsula. Her family, consisting of her mother and her 6 other sisters, decided to flee across the north side of the 38th parallel. While there was no established boundary between the north and south side before the Cold War until 1953, traveling across an imaginary line with rising hostility made it difficult and even suspicious to escape.

          Nonetheless, with her unborn baby girl, my great-grandmother traversed successfully with 5 daughters. The last one, an educator, never made it and was never seen again. During this time of intense support from the Soviet Union and the Chinese Communist Party in the north, multiple intellectuals were suppressed and even killed. Knowing this, my great-grandmother made the hard decision to save her remaining unborn children first and wait for the last. But soon after settling in, my grandmother was born in South Korea in 1949. Growing up as an infant, my grandmother was fed raw chestnut mash since food was hard to come by. In her childhood years, she was lucky enough to be sent to school after the war. Yet, due to the devastation of the Cold War and the trauma of the Japanese occupation, South Korea’s economic condition was so deteriorated that the country was known as the poorest country in the world. My grandmother still remembers how she and her elementary friends sought after their only afternoon snack: dalgona, an inexpensive, sugary street food. Although her childhood was always surrounded by Korea’s poverty, military, and devastation, she lived with these burdens that taught her to be independent and selfless at an early age. Now in her early 70s, my grandmother carries these traits and expresses them whenever I purposely leave my pickles out as leftovers or when my younger brother needs help with his homework. In my childhood, I grew up with her stern but supportive guidance and stories that led me to appreciate and value certain traits like patience.

          It is inevitable to prevent change. We learn, we grow, we adapt to our surroundings and situations. But even within these reasons for change, our 10-year-old selves do not stray far away from our aging bodies or minds. Whether it is because of our genetics or our life stories and experiences, our society of unique individuals universally seem to relate back to our childhood selves. No matter how much the 10% of brain growth is added after childhood, the astounding 90% left still matters. Our external, internal, biological, neurological, and emotional influences will distinguish ourselves in our communities, but in some way, shape, or form, we rebound to our core values and past experiences, which outlines the reasons we advocate for change. Essentially, everything in our minds and bodies correlates to our 10-year-old selves. Through memories and life experiences, we keep and teach the future generation of our fortunes and misadventures. Whether we like it or not, people will fight for change but will always touch back to their foundation of morals and principles that they formed long ago.