We’re thrilled to introduce our summer campaigns intern, SaeHee Chun! She will work with us on our comprehensive immigration reform campaign We’re pretty smitten with her and think you will be, too!
Name: SaeHee Chun
Currently: A Rising sophomore at Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University majoring in Asian studies, double minor in Business Administration and korean Languages & Literature
What made you want to intern with NAKASEC?
Having grown up in Annandale, I have always been surrounded by a huge Korean community. However, with so many middle class to wealthy families in the areas, I feel that the underlying issues that many struggling Korean American families face go neglected. My knowledge about these issues is also very minimal. Whether it be related to difficulties with the current immigration policy, access to education, or hate crimes, there are so many issues that need attention in the Korean community. In high school, many Korean American students had very surface-level knowledge about their heritage that was mostly based on Korean dramas and KPop. Not many showed too much interest in social issues, history, or traditional culture. In college, the students seem much more interested in the roots of their culture beyond pop culture. However, I feel that the issues that should really be of concern including struggles with the poor immigration structure, lack of voter engagement, and unequal access to health care and education remain unnoticed. Because NAKASEC addresses both cultural development and education as well as social issues, I became very interested in working with the organization.
What are you most eager about learning?
I hope to learn about issues affecting our community, how to better engage the Korean American community in addressing these issues, and connecting with other Korean American communities in the country.
What is the Korean American community like where you grew up?
Annandale really lives up to its title as “Koreatown.” There is a vibrant community filled with dozens of Korean restaurants, clothing stores including hanbok (Korean traditional dress) shops, groceries, doctor’s offices, law firms, travel agencies, hakwons (tutoring centers), car repair centers, and more. Anything you need, you can find a Korean business for it. There is also a wealth of resources in my neighborhood to learn about topics such as Korean language, history, traditions, holidays, or traditional arts. Among students, the Korean community can be described in two categories – students who were born here or came here at a very young age (2nd generation or 1.5 generation) and students who recently immigrated from Korea
During your free time, what do you like to do?
Attending rehearsals and practicing gayageum, watching Korean dramas, variety shows, and movies, reading books or researching online about Korean history and culture, exploring DC.
If you could have any super(s)hero power, what would it be?
Mind-reading or superhuman eating so that I could eat froyo non-stop without getting sick 🙂
SaeHee can be reached at schun@nakasec.org. Thank you!
