On Wednesday, May 9, the Fulbright Educational Advising Center hosted a cultural event as part of the Pacific American Heritage Month. The event opened with a screening of the indie film The Motel, directed by Michael Kang, which tells the story of a young boy going through the pains of growing-up, trying out different identities. The screening was followed by a discussion led by our guest speaker, Chealin Won, Fulbright ETA. After engaging the audience – mainly university and high school students – in a short interactive exercise, meant to settle some of the identity and heritage themes explored by the film, Chealin shared her personal perspective on Korean-American identity, touching upon issues such as growing up in two worlds, navigating cultures and negotiating culture-specific norms, models of masculinity-femininity across cultures, class differences, (inter)ethnic stereotypes. Chealin also talked about ethnic identity in the academia, the hits and misses of living inside a new language, and the role and impact one’s own ethnic community has in helping the individual adjust to new norms and customs.

Many thanks to Chealin Won for a fruitful and lively discussion, and for joining us in this event!