It was the late 2000’s, a dark, blissful child’s evening, when I decided I was going to become Jackie Chan. I would sit inches from the television and stare in awe as he would flip over fire escapes, jump onto the ground, fight 15 people, and somehow manage to come out unscathed. So, like any 9 year old would do, I set a goal to become a black belt. At the time, I didn’t care what martial art I would go into. But there was a nearby karate studio and I begged my mom every time we drove past, to take just one lesson. But every time was met with “No.” That was acceptable. It was a 15 minute drive, and lessons weren’t cheap, and my family was trying hold down the fort with me and my new baby brother. Not to mention, I was into every other sport and activity available to me. But that didn’t stop me from preserving. I kept begging and begging until one August afternoon, I had just come home from daycare when my family noticed something hanging on the door. I decided to see what it was. Little did I know that this flyer would change the course of my entire life. It was an advertisement for a TaeKwonDo studio moving into a building that was less than 5 minutes away from our house. And they were running a sale. So I quickly turned to my mom, asking her if we could do this, and without explaining much, she replied with a simple “Yes.”
And so it began. Five years, and counting, of training, along with achieving a black belt, and suddenly I’m making plans to go study abroad in Korea. TaeKwonDo wasn’t the only cause of this decision, but it was certainly the beginning. My main instructor, and head of the studio is Korean, and spent most of his childhood in Korea before moving to America during late middle school. Because of this, he is fluent in Korean, and I remember sometimes hearing him speak to his family in his native tongue and being absolutely fascinated. I’d never heard any other language being spoken other than Spanish, French, and maybe, if I was lucky, some German. This, combined with the small amount of Korean we learned during classes, was probably the spark that set off my love for this mysterious language that was so foreign to me, yet when I spoke and listened to it, it felt normal and right. But as I said, TaeKwonDo was only the beginning.
A fun fact about me is that I spent an ungodly amount of time on the internet growing up, and probably still spend too much time on it today. However, looking back on it, I believe that was a gateway for finding my passion. I found myself watching Youtube videos comparing languages, funny stereotypes, clothings, and trends. You name it, and I probably watched it. And the more and more videos I watched, the more and more I gravitated towards Korean culture. I always felt excited when learning about this way of life. It was like meeting a stranger on the street that had everything in common with you. Growing up for most of my life, I was in and out of friend groups, had been bullied multiple times, and was often what felt like an outcast in every situation. I may have just been overthinking, but I always felt like I was “out” of whatever loop that everyone else was in. But learning about Korean Culture, I fell in love yet again. My unusual love for funky streetwear and edgy clothing wasn’t out of place in the streets of Seoul, especially during fashion week. My love of music and dance was exemplified in popular karaoke destinations and an entire genre of music that not only combined creative beats and tracks, but also fascinating dance routines, and doing them while singing live. And then, to top it all off, a complicated culture that combined two of my favorite things: food and friends.
Also, speaking of friends, I met some of my closest and best friends through Korean Culture. Some from a cultural celebration day that we were both a part of, and others through meeting on an elevator and making random, offhand comments about a shirt she was wearing. We met out of nowhere, pure coincidence, but it was the luckiest I have ever been. We may go a month or so without talking, but they will respond at 12 am their time even if I just say a simple ‘hi!’. They changed me. Their compassion and understanding is greater than I could ever understand. They wouldn’t be annoyed or angry when I would ask what now are seemingly obvious questions about their language or culture. But, I have to say, thank you for FaceTime, because if it wasn’t for that little program than I probably would have had a lot of trouble keeping up with these friendships. Now, I can talk and laugh with them in real time (minus lag time) and experience a little section of their daily lives.
And suddenly, 7,000 miles isn’t that far away. The world was always a little too small for me, but I would have never expected to find an entirely new universe, in a tiny country, on a peninsula half way across the world that I had never heard about before.
I feel as if I just laid out my life story for everyone to listen to, which essentially, I have, because no matter where I look, towards the past or the future, Korean culture is sprinkled throughout like Easter eggs in a movie. Now, there’s a sort of tick in my head, an eagerness to go and experience this place that I’ve only had the pleasure of seeing in movies, activities, and through second hand stories. That’s how I got to where I am today, planning on minoring in a language I fell in love with all on my own and living for a year in a country I’ve only recently truly heard about. But why? I had always planned on growing up, working for the government and living the rest of my life in a white picket fenced cookie cutter American house, so why the change? Because whether I was in the darkest times of my life, or dancing my heart out to words I can’t quite understand yet, or conversing with some of the most special people in my life, this 9-year-old who had a dream of being a legend is still kicking inside of me, telling me that this is my next step; this is what I’m supposed to do with the rest of my life.

<Alexis Ogle／ 11th Grade Fairfield Area HS Fairfield, PA>