By Sarah Marshall
The Korean Club is a new addition to club opportunities. It was started by international student sophomore Shin Seoyeon who was inspired to start the club to introduce Korean life to McNicholas.
Club moderator and Social Studies teacher Mr. Shawn Young said, “Shin Seoyeon came to me with this idea. I asked her to do a little presentation for the class that she’s in and everything was really great. So, then she came up with ‘Hey, can I do a whole club for the entire school?’ I was like that is outstanding!”
Young shared, “I really like traveling a lot and going all over the world. In two years, I am going with the school to Korea, so I wanted to learn about Korea, and I wanted the kids to learn about Korea.”
To spread the word about the club, Yeon sent out emails and put up signs around the school. She said she is still deciding what the name of the club should be. Right now, it is known as Korean Club, but Yeon said she is thinking about changing the name to K-Club, as a tribute to the popular music genre, K-Pop.
Yeon is proud of her culture, so she wanted people to know that other countries are places with unique identities. “I realized that whenever I share small parts of Korean life with my friends, even simple things like expressions, habits, or games, they find it fun and surprising, which is pretty obvious because they never lived that life,” Yeon said.
With a new perspective on the cultural diversity side, Yeon said she hopes to widen perspectives at McNick. She feels that if someone becomes curious about another culture because they heard about the club, then her goal is met. She said she wants the McNicholas community to gain curiosity and interest in other cultures because just knowing that another culture exists makes people realize the world is bigger. Yeon said she tries to keep the meetings surprising by bringing something new every time. So far, club members have learned how to write their names in Korean and tried new snacks. The club keeps evolving based on what everyone gets excited about, so there’s always a reason to come back. The club meets in room 169 (Mr. Young’s room). The group met the week of December 8, where members made Tteokbokki, a rice cake stir-fry that is a popular Korean street food. The next meeting will in January and anyone interested should contact Yeon or Mr. Young.
“I just hope this club becomes a small reason why someone looks at the world a bit differently than yesterday,” Yeon said.
The McNicholas Milestone 