Hello!
My name is JihyeChung,
and I am a volunteer at YAV/DOOR in Atlanta for 2014-2015. I was
born in South Korea and grew up in Gumi,which is a small but very beautiful
cityin Korea. I'm a student at Hannam University in Daejeon and major in
law. I want to be a labor lawyer for workers who can't defend their rights due
to financial and social inequalities. After this
program is done, I plan to prepare for the Bar examination in Korea.
I enjoy exercise and sports such as
running and kendo. As a freshman, I learned kendo and enjoy competing when
possible. Even though
kendo is a difficult
sport
for women, I like practicing it because I want to break the traditional mindset
that “women are weaker than men and need to be protected”. What I enjoy most about kendo, however, is
getting to meet people with different majors and life experiences. If I had to
choose what I enjoy the most so far during my time at college, I would choose
kendo.
I have known about the ‘YAV’ program
since the Summer
of
2013. My university was built by American missionaries from the Korean Presbyterian Church in 1954,so I often met with YAV’s
from America in the church inside the campus. After traveling to Thailand for
a mission trip in January of 2014, I was preparing to study abroad. However,
I heard from my friend (who is now in Denver, Colorado with the YAV program)
that the Korean
Presbyterian church was looking for new YAV’s to send to the U.S. from Korea.
At that time, I was unsure if I wanted to study abroad or go to USA for the YAV program
so I prayed every day. After a while His answer came to me. I found out that I was
suddenly unable to study abroad, leaving the YAV program as my sole choice.
Now, I have no regrets about applying to the
YAV/DOOR program and to coming to Atlanta. At first when I came to Atlanta, it was
very stressful. I still have difficulty in speaking with people but I know I’m
getting better that before. I thank God that whenever it feels hard or
difficult, He sends good people that help me along.
The reason I applied to this program was
to experience the plan God has for me. I want to experience God in America and learn
what others think and believe. I am sure this one year will greatly influence
my life. I’d like to break my thinking and stereotypes influenced by the conservative
society of Korea.
