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Primarily set in the late 1990s and early 2000s in Seoul, South Korea, this coming-of-age drama circles around Na Hee-do's life during high school as she transitions into adulthood. Her love interest, Baek Yi-jin, who is 4 years older than her is already struggling with the reality that he is pushed in due to the economic crises that impacted South Korea and his family during this time. Na Hee-do's archnemesis Ko Yu-rim, who soon turns out to be her lifelong friend, is another high schooler pressured to be the best. Throughout this drama, Na Hee-do is pursuing her dream of being a national fencer. However, when she finally achieves her goal of being a national fencer, the themes then later shown are growth, resilience, friendship, love, heartbreak, and aspirations. Through it all, Na Hee-do is tested on what change can really do to a person and the relationships around her. Whether that relationship is love or friendship, when she and Baek Yi-jin reach the respective ages of Twenty-Five and Twenty-one their story together comes to an end.

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As it relates to the environment around Na Hee-do, and the relationships she had with her friends: Ko Yu-rim, Ji Seung-wan, and Moon Ji-ung.

First, the major character other than Na Hee-do is Baek Yi-jin. When he first encounters Hee-do, he is working at a comic book store. He is 21 at the time and is currently facing the effect of the economic crash South Korea had. It impacted his family as he had to drop out of college while still finding his way through adulthood and becoming a journalist. He serves as a major character in Na Hee-do's life as she is about to enter adulthood herself and becomes the main reason she keeps going.

Ko Yu-rim initially was Na Hee-do's biggest inspiration. They were in the same grade and were in the same sport. However, when she became acquainted with Ko Yu-rim, her idolization soon turned into the desire to surpass her. Both fought for the admiration of Baek Yi-jin, who also knew Ko Yu-rim but not of her affection towards him and to become the first female gold medalists in fencing. As they spent more time together, both realized that their relationship went deeper than they ever imagined. They shared their hardships of being adolescents who are pressured to succeed without any regard for their mental health. This connection led them to be soul mates. Even when the world pitied them against each other during the final rounds of the national sports championships, they both did their best against each other. As fate would have it, Na Hee-do won and they both embraced each other in tears knowing that the other one deserved the metal rather than themselves.

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Conflict arises when Na Hee-do's ambition in fencing and Yi-jin, who already entered adulthood as a reporter, tries to adapt to change after leaving his youth behind. He feels as if he is back to youth around Hee-do but she is now becoming more busy as she becomes more popular. This scheduling conflict causes strain on the relationship as each party wants the other to be understanding of their profession. Going through her first heartbreak with her first love, Na Hee-do is now face to face with the changes of her not being a young, naive high schooler, but a young adult who now has to make the right decisions.

The heart-wrenching resolution came to be when both Baek Yi-jin and Na Hee-do decided to end their relationship and finally find their own path in life without feeling tied down because of their relationship. As she reached the ripe age of 21 and he reached the peak age of his career at 25, the inevitable happened as they both stood on the bridge and vented out the harsh realities of adulthood. However, the bittersweet ending didn't end there, as after the breakup Na hee-do had won a national gold medal and Baek Yi-jin landed his first big report by interviewing those who participated in the national sport game in South Korea. Coincidentally he was tasked with interviewing the fencing winner. At the end of the interview, both congratulated each other on making it to where they wanted to be. In 2020 we see that Na Hee-do moved on. She had a daughter and reminded her pre-teen daughter of the importance of enjoying youth while it lasts.

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Urine Bronfenbrenner was an American psychologist born in Moscow, Russia on April 29, 1917. He then immigrated to the United States in 1923 where he went on and earned a PhD in Developmental Psychology. In the 1970s he developed the now well-known theory: ecological theory. While working as a psychologist, Bronfenbrenner believed that in order to understand the development of a child, we have to focus on the context and the environment around them. From there you can predict and help influence what their outcome can be. Through his ecological theory, he concluded that teachers and parents should maintain a good relationship so they can work together to strengthen the child's development. Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory states that a series of interconnected systems influence a person's development. These systems could range from the immediate surroundings (family, friends) to broad societal structures (e.g., culture)

These systems consisted of microsystems, mesosystems, ecosystems, macrosystems, and chronosystems, each representing different levels of the influence an environment has on a person's growth and behavior.

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1. The Microsystem

This is the very first level of Bronfenbrenner's theory, and it illustrates how a child's immediate relationships, such as parents, siblings, classmates, and teachers, can influence a child's environment. These interactions then directly impact the child's development.

Ex: peer groups, extracurricular activities, school environment (e.x. teachers), immediate family

2. The Mesosystem

This system is where an individual microsystem does not function independently but asserts influence upon one another with the mesosystem.

Ex: Parent-teacher relationship/communication; Family-healthcare provider relationship; school-neighborhood

3. The Exosystem

Exosystem includes formal and informal social structures such as government, family friends, and mass media.

Ex: A parent's workplace-- whether or not the parent's job offers flexible work hours can greatly impact a child's development. Meaning that a parent with flexible work hours are able to spend more time with their children than a parent who is always busy

4. The Macrosystem

The macrosystem focuses on how one's culture affects their development. This includes but is not limited to cultural ideologies, attitudes, and social conditions that children are immediately taught at birth. Beliefs about genders, family structures, and social issues establish a certain behavior and way of thinking in a child. This system is different compared to the other systems because it is the already established societal norms and culture the child has rather than the environmental factors around them.

Ex: Cultural norms and expectations (e.g., Asian, Caribbean), socioeconomic factors

5. The Chronosystem

Last but not least, the chronosystem relates to the shifts and changes the child goes through throughout their lifetime. These events could be changes in family structure (divorce), major historical events (pandemics), or even personal life transitions (puberty)

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The main foundation of Bronfenbrenner's ecological theory was that a person's development was affected by everything in their surrounding environment. However many people had critiques about his theory. To sum it all up, people believed that Bronfenbrenner overemphasized how much a society impacts a child and not a lot on how a child's choices impact their own. They also said that the theory does not account for all the variables that can influence an individual's behavior. In other words, the model that he created demonstrating each system does not give much insight into how much it affects a child. This then makes this theory harder to test as there is not much clarity on what a family should focus on to make an effective change in their child's development.

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Application Of Ecological Theory to Na Hee-do

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Application Of Ecological Theory to Na Hee-do

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Regarding what stage of the Ecological theory applies to Na Hee-do of 'Twenty-five Twent-one' it would be Mesosystem. Mesosytem as I defined it is a stage that does not work independently but asserts influence with one another. As it relates to Na Hee-do, the interconnections she made and already had during this show displayed significant influence over he life from adolescence to adulthood. For example, at the very beginning, her homeroom teacher and mother were not very supportive of her passion for fencing. This then illustrates how Hee-do’s school life interacts with her home life and affects her emotional well-being and motivation. The friendship among Hee-do, Yi-jin, and Yu-rim also highlights how these relationships influenced her personal growth and decisions. In the video above, you can see how the first loss Na Hee-do experiences is also due to the argument she had with her mother, who disapproves of her.

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YiJin heard Heedo’s argument with her mom (twenty-five twenty-one) (Na Heedo / Baek YiJin)

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Assessment of Na Hee-do by Bronfenbrenner

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Assessment of Na Hee-do by Bronfenbrenner

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Since Mesosystem connects to Na Hee-do's life throughout the show Bronfenbrenner could say a couple of things about what this means for her future. Urine Bronfenbrenner said,"...relationship between a child's teacher and their mother can help the child feel supported and settled." However, as it relates to Na Hee-do, both the teacher and mother were not supportive of Na Hee-do's choice of career. Bronfenbrenner would probably believe that this would be a setback in the child's self-esteem and mental thinking of whether or not they are good enough. A major circumstance that happens to Na Hee-do in 'Twenty-five Twenty-one' is when she confronts her mother about how she treats her friend Ji Seung-wan, who has perfect grades, and Baek Yi-jin, who is facing the reality of adulthood head-on. She confronts her mother about this and runs away mid-argument. You can then see the impact of how her mother praises another daughter who isn't hers and the agreeance her mother had with the teacher on Na Hee-do. As shown in the video above, she breaks down as she receives praise from an elderly man but still wishes that it was her mother who praised her for winning her first competition in fencing. Here, Bronfenbrenner would comment on how the mesosystem and macrosystem are demonstrated. Na Hee-do's Korean culture and relationships are beginning to influence her development. When she begins to reach adolescence, Bronfenbrenner could say she will either try to continue her pursuit in fencing or let those factors influence her to the point that she stops her pursuit in fencing.

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Na Hee Do crying scene || Twenty Five Twenty One Ep 7

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This theory did a decent job in explaining what Na Hee-do was experiencing despite the nostalgic scenes. It gave broad examples of how the relationships around her either broke her down or kept her together throughout the show. I could see that almost every stage could have applied to her but not really. All in all, I can see that the Ecological theory in general was capable of capturing all the experiences Na Hee-do was going through. From the social structure of her mother and South Korea at the time to the friendships and romantic relationships she experienced, each system applied to not only her but also Yi-jin and Yu-rim.

I believe the ecological theory developed by Urine Bronfenbrenner is a good "fit" when making a psycho-developmental assessment of Na Hee-do. Each stage emphasizes and relates how Na Hee-do's immediate setting like family and peers and societal factors shaped her personality and coping mechanisms when faced with failure.

Given the fact that Na Hee-do is Korean, their values and expectations for the children of that nation are always set to a high standard. Because of this, Bronfenbrenner's theory would be valid to use because it is not your typical American coming of age but one where coming of age in South Korea is practiced even during middle school years. I also believe that it is valid to use because each system is applicable however, I belief that it should go into more detail about what these factors mean in an adolescent coming of age due to the broadness of Bronfenbrenner; 's theory.

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A related concept that connects to the coming-of-age Kdrama 'Twenty-Five Twenty-One' is Collectivism. Collectivism is a worldview that prefers the well-being of a group rather than the well-being of an individual. As it relates to Na Hee-do, she is a South Korean youth who faces a lot of pressure to succeed. Her culture falls underneath the broader culture of Asians who can be cutthroat when it comes to academics and career choices. This idea is supported in Chapter 10 which states, "Another study found similar results for U.S. college students of Asian descent: the pressure to conform to their own group...People from collectivistic cultures tend to be driven instead by the question, 'What’s best for us?'" This then illustrates how in Asian cultures "us" refers to family and friends. During the K-Drama, Na Hee-do experiences this conflict as she ponders whether or not to listen to her mother or follow her aspiration to be a fencer despite her academic weaknesses.

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