A Send-off for Senior Program Officer, Mrs. Lee
In a large auditorium filled at half-capacity, a woman gave her humble advice to an eager audience of new grantees. “Don’t compare your experience with others,” she said. It’s good advice. Many people hide their advice through big metaphors or flowery language. But Mrs. Lee was direct in her words for this year’s cohort before she sent everyone on to their teaching placements and new lives in South Korea. Mrs. Lee shares this advice because she cares about the experience of every ETA grantee. She hopes that each one will thrive in their new setting, achieving more happiness than disappointment. It’s not a role specifically in her job description, but it’s one she gladly takes on. Young-Sook Lee, the Senior Program Officer for the Fulbright Korea English Teaching Assistant (ETA) Program, was born in 1957 in the town of Jinhae City. Living in Gyeongsangnam-do, she also spent much of her childhood in Busan. Through her hard work and study, Mrs. Lee eventually moved to Seoul to earn a degree in Spanish from Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. She still remembers the exact day she started her work with KAEC: August 1, 2000. The Korean-American Educational Commission (KAEC) had recently opened a computer-based Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) testing center and recruited employees working at the center through the Fulbright Alumni Network. Mrs. Lee was one of those recruits. Remembering her first day of work with KAEC, Mrs. Lee said, “I was so excited to work with other people at KAEC.” A common theme throughout her career has been her focus on creating strong relationships with anyone she meets. In 2003, Mrs. Lee switched positions at KAEC in order to become an Education Advisor in KAEC’s U.S. Education Center, where she helped students navigate their journey to studying abroad in the United States; it seems only natural that Mrs. Lee would end up helping Americans in Korea navigate living abroad in a similar way. Mrs. Lee changed positions at KAEC again in 2004. She originally provided administrative support to several programs, assisting both Korean and American Fulbrighters. It was not long, though, before she became the official ETA Program Assistant, providing exclusive attention to the ETAs and schools under her care. Mrs. Lee worked for the next two years while also earning a Master’s in Business Administration from Korea National Open University, famous for being the first Korean Distance Learning University. Her official duty as Senior Program Officer has been to take care of ETAs so that they adjust well in Korea, and every year her goal is to get as many people to successfully complete the program as she can. Mrs. Lee is very invested in the livelihood of the ETAs as well as in maintaining the good relationship Fulbright has with educational institutions in Korea. “My favorite memories are when all ETAs completed the program 100% successfully without early termination and early departure, and when I hear from schools and communities that our ETAs are doing a great job in school,” Mrs. Lee said. It’s no easy feat either, as moving to a new country can be difficult for many ETAs and there are many obstacles for them to overcome. Mrs. Lee often works on these issues with the ETAs and helps them to reach solutions. “When I resolve serious issues related to ETAs and get good results for them” Mrs. Lee said, “I am proud of doing my job.” There have been obstacles for Mrs. Lee as well, such as when there have not been enough schools to place renewing teachers. It’s hard to send ETAs interested in continuing their cultural exchanges home, so Mrs. Lee always tries to find more schools to place them in. We honor Mrs. Lee in this year’s Infusion publication because when our grant year ends, so will her time with Fulbright and KAEC. After over 21 years with KAEC, Mrs. Lee will retire and start her next adventure, which includes traveling all across Korea and other countries, as well as spending more time with her family. In each place she goes, Mrs. Lee is sure to meet a variety of people that she will continue to learn from and share her experiences with. After all, the most exciting part of her job has been meeting new, young Americans year after year. Mrs. Lee, on behalf of this year’s cohort and the alumni of the Fulbright Program, thank you for your dedication to the program and to us. Your work is admirable, and we appreciate all that you have done. And for the grantees that will come in the future, Mrs. Lee offers her advice to you one last time, “I hope they remember the traditional Fulbright Korea motto for the ETA Program, ‘Don’t compare with others because all unhappiness starts from comparison.’ Also, accomplish the Fulbright mission with confidence as honorable Fulbrighters, wherever you are. All of you are special and unique.”
From the Embassy
This year marks the Fulbright Program’s platinum jubilee, when we celebrate 75 years of making new friends around the world in pursuit of peace. We at U.S. Embassy Seoul are immensely proud of the immeasurable impact the Fulbright Program has on the deep relationship between the United States and the Republic of Korea. The program continues to expand our friendship, cooperation, and mutual understanding based on our many shared values. Approximately 6,700 Fulbright alumni – roughly 3,600 Koreans and 3,100 Americans – have built bridges between the United States and Korea thanks to Fulbright. Korean Fulbrighters actively promote a more accurate understanding of Korea and its culture within their respective fields in the United States, serving as ambassadors for the benefit of educational exchange. American grantees in Korea have profoundly impacted underserved groups such as North Korean defectors, furthered research and U.S.-ROK collaboration to solve complex challenges in public health and climate change, pushed technology to new frontiers, and expanded access for young Koreans to higher education in the United States. It gives me great comfort and pride to know that Fulbrighters past, present, and future will continue to be stewards of the relationship between the United States and Korea. The COVID-19 pandemic caused a momentary pause for both Fulbright Korea and Infusion, but both have persevered. One thing the pandemic has made clear is that we need to collaborate on global issues now more than ever. In the years to come, I believe that the rich experience of Fulbright Korea and the cooperative relationship between our two nations will go well beyond our borders, benefitting the IndoPacific region and beyond. Seeing the important topics captured in the pages of this volume makes me even more optimistic about the next 75 years of the Fulbright Program, with participants enriching their educations, advancing their careers, and making meaningful contributions to society and the global community. Dr. Anneliese Reinemeyer Minister-Counselor for Public Diplomacy Embassy of the United States of America Chair, Korean-American Educational Commission
From the Editor
The ending of our Fulbright grant year appears quite similar to how it started. We came into the grant year hopeful for a new adventure, but were soon met with obstacles. Many of this year’s grantees have felt loneliness in their year brought on by mask mandates, online classes, travel restrictions and social distancing rules. As we prepare for the end of the grant, it may feel like we leave with unfinished business and goals unachieved. It may feel like things haven’t really changed at all. Perhaps everything is exactly the same as how it started. Or perhaps there was change- small, mundane, daily- but change nonetheless. The kind of growth that occurs only through constant perseverance in the face of constant challenge. Our cohort was unable to do many things this year (we don’t even have a group photo together!). However, instead of passively accepting that there were things we could not do, we got creative with the things we could. Our classes were engaging both online and off; volunteer opportunities took form in new shapes and sizes; and we discovered more about our placements than perhaps any grantees before us. Although times were stagnant, we refused to remain still. This change is evident in the pieces shared in Volume 14 of Fulbright Korea’s Infusion. As you read through the magazine, I encourage you to read through it as if it were a 2021 diary composed by the cohort. We start with Kiki Marlam’s piece “acquisition of my senses” that will place you in a singular moment in a small city in Korea. Then we will take you through the discovery of Korea in pieces like Julia Zorc’s “Dragon Head” and the discovery of identity such as in William Lander’s “Speaker’s Block.” Some pieces will take you through both, like Miles Miller’s reflection on his family history and Hanoks, Korean traditional homes, in his piece titled “Re-Member the Future.” Our writers share personal testimonies about who they were before the grant year and who they have become. Read about the struggles grantees faced in pieces like Chloe Nelson’s “Hungry Ghost” and Carolyn Acosta’s “Conferences & In-Between.” Those that feel they are obvious outsiders open up about their experiences, such as in Andrianna Boykin’s “The Smudged Mirror” and Katherine Seibert’s “Cures for the Outsider.” Meanwhile “Lunch Box” by Tricia Park and “From a Great Distance Notes on Identity and Cathy Park Hong’s Minor Feelings” by Sarah Berg call attention to the Asian-American experience and the often ignored traumas of that experience. While the hurdles of the year cannot be ignored, there are stories of community that show just how persistent this year’s cohort is in the face of adversity. Joy Cariño’s “The Pinoy Grill” offers you a seat in a restaurant turned home-away-from-home, while Johanna Alexander’s “Trading Fall Favorites” is a humorous look at life in a homestay. Jame See Yang’s “Overheard in 영어” is a window into teaching in Korea, followed by the artworks of our talented students as well. Claire Ehr’s piece “Naju 11:46 p.m.” reminds us that sometimes art is just our way of expression, nothing more and nothing less. We share not only through our words but through our photography as well. From captures of Korean landscapes, to people, to architecture, to culture, the pictures will take you through a year of changes. Unlike past issues, there will be no photos from other countries taken by grantees enjoying their winter vacation abroad because unlike past issues, we never left the country. Everything in this issue was conceived of in Korea. Which leads me to our theme for the year. Volume 14 will give you a sense of limbo. Many of the written and photographed works will deal with the old and new. They are looking to the past in order to see what’s coming next. We modeled our magazine off of Korean films from the 1980s, a time when South Korea itself was facing a movement of change. Inspired by this country and its history, our cohort will continue to grow after we’ve gone our separate ways. No matter where we started, it wasn’t easy to get here. Now that it is all over, it won’t be easy to leave either. I want to thank my amazing staff for all of their hard work, including Managing Editors Elizabeth Stewart and Lydia O’Donnell. I want to thank every writer and photographer who submitted and everyone who worked through the long process of getting published, as well as each student who participated in our art competition. Thank you to the Korean-American Educational Commission (KAEC) Chair Dr. Anneliese Reinemeyer as well as Executive Director Byungok Kwon and Senior Program Officer Mrs. Young-Sook Lee. Lastly, my gratitude for Heidi Little, the Fulbright liaison for Infusion, and Isabel Moua, ETA program officer. Please enjoy Volume 14 of Fulbright Korea’s Infusion. I encourage you to sip on an ah-ah (iced americano) as you read.