I always conflicted over the desire to hide my “differences” or embrace my Korean heritage. Ashamed of being Asian, I never imagined myself to one day lead others to accept their differences. In freshman year, I partook in a program where I was taught valuable lessons about stereotyping, tolerance, empathy, and the importance of diversity. At the end of that day, I wanted to serve as a leader next. I joined the organization called Griffins With A Mission (GWAM) every...

My dad was diagnosed with a late stage of colon cancer when I was in the fifth grade. At that time, I could not completely grasp what was going on and only knew that my dad was going away for a few months to receive his operation. My mom soon became the sole breadwinner in the family. A month into my dad’s departure, the bills started piling up on our kitchen counter. Today, my family is still recovering from...

As a Korean from the Asian Pacific American Islander (AAPI) community, I recognized how taboo the subject of “mental health” was among many first-generation immigrants. Fortunately, I became aware of the topic during my early teenage years scrolling through posts on my Tumblr feed. Soon, my interest in psychology rose in because it is interconnected with concepts on how and why the brain functions and degrades the way it does. My fascination in the matter only grew when I took...

I was a shy and reserved person growing up, never taking risks to make myself vulnerable. I was constantly bogged down by feelings of inferiority due to my socioeconomic background in comparison to my white and affluent classmates. It was not up until high school that I learned to stand up for myself and challenge my insecurities. Junior year, I created a club to raise awareness about animal welfare, which is one of my passions. Through that experience, I found...

I was always a shy, reserved person growing up, never taking risks to make myself vulnerable. I was constantly bogged down by feelings of inferiority because of my socio-economic background and compared myself to my white, affluent classmates. I felt unlucky to be Asian and fantasized about how different life would be if I were “white”. It was not until high school that I started to stand up for myself and be proud of who I am. Tired of hiding...

I was nine when my dad was diagnosed with a late stage of colon cancer. During the two years of my dad’s surgery and treatment, my mom became the sole breadwinner in the family. However, the piling medical bills that that followed soon broke our family’s fragile economic position. Eventually my parents sold the family’s business leaving them jobless. I have experienced how economic hardships can break a person, seeing my mom suffer both physically and mentally...

My dad was only sixteen when he risked death in the Gwangju Massacre to fight for his freedom of speech. Years later, he immigrated to America to fulfill a dream where his children’s opinions would not be suppressed. I am now at an age where I can understand how both the perspectives of global and marginalized groups influenced his decision. For my next four years, I desire to place myself at Occidental where I am educated and answered in...