Why did Caroline feel like she let down her parents?

As the essay goes on, Caroline explains how her parents have immigrated to the United States 30 years ago. They brought her up to be a “strong, independent woman”, telling her that she can do and be anyone she wants to be when she grows up. However, as Caroline grows older, there is a little of a culture clash between her origins in Korea and her life in America. Her parents really want her to be a lawyer. Caroline wants to be a writer. But in order to make her parents proud and pick the safer path, she decides to continue with her lawyer pursuit.

She goes with the plan, but Caroline finds it very hard to squeeze down her real dream and passion. So she decides to take a Ph. D. in English Literature. She thinks that this is a really good in-between, doing what her parents want as well as what she wants. But it’s just too much to keep up with both and she ends up dropping her lawyer career path because it was really arduous to continue with something she doesn’t have a passion for. Her parents are disappointed, but they aren’t devastated. They respect her and though she didn’t succeed in the path they wanted her to follow, she did find something she really loves to do.