Thirty eight thousand feet up in the air, Josh and Sang Hong stare out a tiny plane window with only clouds, the endless sky, and a glimpse of new opportunities that lie ahead, in sight.

From South Korea to Springdale Arkansas, Josh and Sang Hong traveled fourteen hours in January of 2013.

“It was pretty scary because I didn’t know English that well and I would have to make new friends, but it was in a sense exciting too because I would have way more freedom in America,” said Josh.

Most teenagers rely on their parents all throughout their high school career. Sang and Josh, however, did not come to the U.S. with their parents. Even though they see their parents through their cellphone screens almost everyday, they mainly rely on each other and their legal guardian.

“Sometimes it’s tough to be independent, but because of that we learned responsibility,” said Sang.

Although it is difficult to cope with all the responsibility, the boys handle it well, continuing to learn through the distance.

“It was pretty tough at first, but you get used to it after a while. Sometimes I feel like being separated from my parents brought me more responsibility and maturity, so that I’m thankful for,” said Josh.

Josh and Sang’s relationship with their parents went in the opposite direction of a normal long distance relationship.

“We call and FaceTime each other almost everyday and I feel like being physically separated brought us to a tighter relationship,” said Josh.

Josh and Sang’s mother and father did not send them to a new country on blind faith. In fact they are following in their parents footsteps.

“My parents are both professors in Korea right now, but they earned their doctorates in the U.S. so they knew how America would be better for me,” said Josh.

With no doubt, there was more than just the absence of parents that made this a drastic switch. As one might have guessed, South Korea is a lot different than America.

“[Korea is] very different than America, especially when you are a teenager. Most of the teenagers in Korea, they spend their majority of the time in school studying,” said Sang. “Believe it or not when a student enrolls in high school, they go to school around six to seven a.m. and they finish around nine to ten p.m.”

This societal norm in South Korea did not fit the personalities of Josh and Sang, though.

“There are also some pros in living in South Korea. The food is way cheaper and everywhere is connected with transportation so you can basically venture off to anywhere without a car,” said Josh.

With big hopes and dreams, and the future plans of the parents of these students joining them here, America seemed like the perfect home for them.

“Who can resist a place where there is more opportunity and freedom,” said Sang.