She sings, dances, speaks six languages, and plays the flute. 

If you were to see yourself from ten years ago, what kind of person do you see and what would you say to her?

I see someone who is both nervous but also confident. For the nervous side of her, I would say “It’s okay, everything will work out” because at the time, I wasn’t sure if I could study in the states or go back to Korea; or basically do what I wanted to do because of financial issues. I would tell that nervous side of me to open up more and spend more time getting to know people who aren’t like me because I was so focused on my studies like my gpa to go where I wanted to go. So, taking more risks in relationships and getting to know people better because I enjoyed my high school friends but I didn’t really explore outside of that clique. There was this girl that I didn’t really know, but she invited me to her place and it wasn’t planned out.

And to the confident me, I would kind of encourage that [confidence] and tell myself to take more advantage of opportunities that I am given and take more risks.

What does growing mean to you?

Growing to me is like on our floor we have keys to each door but there is one key that works for all the doors — like the master key. So you are born as a specific key to one specific door but I think growing is like chipping away to accommodate to more doors — enlarging your capacity to understand and embrace different types of people and novel situations. I think that’s what growing is.

Would you say that people grow or change? (Or, maybe both?)

I think just like how Saul became Paul there are people who change but those people are minorities. Most people are Timothies so I think most people grow. Change means you go from white to black — a total change in state. Growing is when you keep what you fundamentally started with and nurturing that and developing from that. Change sounds like you just discard what you have and be something new and different.

When you think of growing, what pops in your head first?

A seed. Growing has an origin you always have to go from something. So a seed is like that origin.

If you were to create an artistic piece — whether it is through painting, playing an instrument, singing, or dancing — how would you illustrate and execute your personal growth as an artistic expression?

It’s going to be a dance piece but it can also be a painting. I’m going to make it a dance.

A flower with ring of dancers. They are going to shoot up like a sprout. And then, the lighting is going to be yellow. There’s going to be bright, cheerful music — to represent my childhood when I was growing a lot in many different ways. Intellectually, I loved learning a lot of things: different languages and met people. It was an energetic time.

Then, the dancers are going to glide back down and the lighting is going to turn dark and black. Sad music will be on. That will represent the times in high school when my friends passed away. That was a huge time of growth — understanding the reality of death and putting life in perspective. It really felt like flowers do fade away.

So then, we are going to have red lighting and dancers that are just turning and swirling. That’s going to be my college years. We are going to have dancers spinning in different directions. Lots of wheels work[ed] around me during that time — intellectually and socially. I was studying abroad at the time so it was a good time for me. And I choose red to represent passion. Then the light will turn pink and have male dancers come in. That represents when I was learning to love someone of opposite sex. The lights are going to slowly fade away to blue. Dancers gliding — that represents right now — a calm wave in the ocean. I don’t know how I’m growing right now, but I think that represents how I’m feeling and where I am.

How does your internal growth influence or expand external growth? (Or, vice versa?)

I think I would say internal growth enables external growth. A simple analogy would be the master key. With internal growth you are able to open more doors then more open doors will support the internal growth of other keys out there. It kind of becomes a butterfly effect. It’s not something visible but I do feel that when I learn something through failures, I am better able to support others when they fail. And then when others  fail, maybe they can help other people.

Plants need water and sunlight as basic supplements to grow, what are your supplements?

One of my supplements is people – friends. Diverse friends. I think I need people to thrive; people to go to art museums, karaoke, to talk to, and I’m really happy when I meet people who are different from me because they all teach me something different. Another supplement would be diverse stimulation. I need to travel once every few months — to see something new, meet new people, or try new hobbies. I picked up dancing and [I am] going back to flute and choir; I need diverse things in my life — especially during this sky blue period. I can imagine that as a plant grows it needs different supplements. At this stage of my life, I need friends and hobbies. Whereas 10 years from now, what I need may be solitude

If you could make a universal symbol for “growth,” what would it be?

A wilted flower. Because I think usually symbol of growth is usually optimistic but if you really grow well you are supposed to learn how to die or live well. Because we grow, there’s an end that we are facing. So I think the end point of our growth is death. Ultimately, symbol of growth is dying well.

If you could start/make a business that helps people grow, what would you build?

I thought about a business that can help people grow emotionally or grow in their career. I think I’m more of a practical person. People find it difficult to find their potential because of the realities they face in life. I recently heard about this organization that train computer science  to help you get a job. They don’t charge you and they help you find a job and require you to apply to 100 jobs per week. They make you donate a certain fraction of your income to the organization. If I were to run a business, I think I would do something similar. Someone who has a career goal can get connected with a mentor and get advice and training for the field that you want to go into. Once you get the job, you pay back. If it works well, that could really help people get off their feet and then they can pursue in helping others grow.

Last but not least, what makes your heart sing?

I think trying something new with people that I love. Usually the easiest way to do that is to check out a new restaurant and then the more expensive way is to travel.