ISALC, Lewis and Clark College

Jae Hyuk Choi: An Introduction

My name is Jae Hyuk Choi but here everyone calls me Jae. I have lived in Korea a long time, which is enough to define a person's mind. I have an interesting personality because my two sides look very different. One is my natural personality, friendly with great individuality, and the other is a little silent at times, which results from my education in Korea. For example, I am very active and even a little wordy, but when I am in class or meeting older people, I usually become quiet. This duality certainly seems strange, but these two things show exactly who I am.

If you want to know about my likes and dislikes. I like every sport, food, and kind of people. Frankly speaking, I have no strong dislikes. There are individual and social reasons why I am here, at Lewis and Clark College. First, as an individual reason, I want to know another country, not mine. Because I have lived in Korea such a long time, I need other experiences which I can't find in my country, other kinds of food, music, people, laws, all the things of another culture. Secondly, I want to test myself. During 18 years, I have never lived apart from my parents. Certainly living with parents is the easy way to live. They give everything to their children in Korea, even if you are over 18, so you do not have to do hard jobs yourself. But If I stay here, I will have to do everything myself. I also thought that I could be stronger and self-minded through life at Lewis and Clark. This is another reason why I am here.

Finally, I have a social reason to be here, which is the need of English in my country, in fact, in every non-English speaking country. I thought that if I studied in America it would be good for me. If I speak English very well, I can get a better job and more opportunities, like a trip to an English speaking country or making a relationship with foreigners. This reason is related to my future plan. Actually, my dream is being a person who enjoys a free life, but he must be a useful person for his country. So I dream of a job which is related to an international matter. In fact, I know that fact better than my friends in Korea because my uncles studied in the States 10 or 12 years ago and I have seen their success in society. These are the reasons why I am here.

Jae Hyuk Choi: The Writer

I think my writing is very similar to an old dog because I usually write my papers all of a sudden. For example, when I first take the writing assignment, I usually think a long time until an idea appears. It usually takes a lot of time. Actually it feels hard to find out ideas and to organize them. The reason why I compared my writing to an old dog is people think that old dogs do their work suddenly in Korea. For example, old dogs always like to take a nap and wake up for eating or barking, all of a sudden. And the other reason why I think my writing looks like an old dog is my disorder in writing. When I have finished revising my work, I often feel that the paper is too messy to recognize the meaning of the sentences. I think it's due to the fact that there is a different order and style in Korean writing. In Korean culture, people think that the old dog does not know his directions. So I think that there is similarity between my disorderliness and the personality of an old dog. I hope that I'll progress in my writing. After the hard training of this writing course, I hope to be a young dog who always wakes up and catches the important things quickly. Then maybe I can collect my ideas more easily and write in a logical order.

Thank you for reading and I hope to meet you again…

Please EMail me!

Click here to see the writing assignment.

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Created by: krauss@lclark.edu
Updated: 9/16/99