I AM KOREAN AMERICAN

Own Words

I made the unexpected move across the country to New York 4 years ago. It was a city that I had never visited before, and where I originally knew no one.

It has been amazing and it’s brought out the best in me. I am successfully living on my own in a vibrant and exciting city.

As a second generation Korean American, I am the first in my family to receive a master’s degree.

I had moved to New York for graduate school and received a master’s degree in library science, and worked for a large public library system for about two years.

There are many who assume that being a librarian is not demanding, and that a library can be quiet and boring. As the teen librarian, what I did was successfully create a safe community space for local teens to meet in a low income neighborhood in the Bronx.

Nintendo Wii tournaments, Japanese language classes, Teen Advisory Group meetings, and a large collaborative mural are just a few examples of what the teens enjoyed doing after school. This was in addition to reading manga and urban fiction!

After we developed a strong level of mutual respect, I started to hear more about their lives. They shared about what they were not able to forget — abuse from foster care parents, family members in jail, friends with drug addiction and teen pregnancy.

As a librarian, I could listen, but I could not take any direct action. We all knew that I could be trusted and that my empathy was sincere. It didn’t matter that I was a Korean American and that they were not.

I am now enrolled in a master’s degree program in social work. I realized that becoming a social worker would give me the opportunity to help teens actively. I am the first in my family to make the effort to receive a second master’s degree.

I have been mistaken as being Chinese, Japanese or even “Oriental”. Through all of my education and experiences, I have realized one thing: I am best at being MYSELF.

My true self is not the person that my parents had wished me to become or the image that my school peers had tried to impress upon me.

I am a future social worker, a strong advocate for urban youth, a happy resident of New York City AND a Korean American.