Winners of 1st Korea Multicultural Youth Awards

By Jun Ji-hye

Habitus, a student volunteer group at Yongmoon High School in Seoul, has worked for vulnerable members of society such as the disabled, senior citizens and multiracial children.

Among their good works, running the study room for elementary school students from multiracial families ought to be highly commended.

Seven students who are in the second grade of the school are in the group. They set themselves up as mentors for such young children and have guided their study from Monday to Friday for a year.

They also became company for them to talk together with, thus giving them the needed emotional support.

“It takes 20 minutes for them to get to the study room from the school. After doing the volunteer work for an hour, they have to go back to school to do their own study till 11 p.m. But they always do such works with a glad heart,” said Choi Nak-won, a guidance teacher of the group.

Choi said, “Seven students have been enthusiastic about understanding multiracial families and always warm-heartedly treating young students from such families. I believe this will help them grow up as leading figures in the future society.”

Little leader dreams to become UN chief

Oh Yi-seok, a sixth grader at Chadong Elementary School in Seosan, South Chungcheong Province, is a born leader.

Currently the student president of his school, his life in and out of school shows a glimpse into his future as a leading figure.

The son of a Chinese mother and a Korean father has been actively involved in volunteer work. He has been at the forefront of a campaign providing aid to children in Mongolia, through collecting second hand items and delivering them to charity shops.

The 12-year-old shows genuine curiosity and talents in various fields, one of which is science.

Oh participated in various science camps.

Young girl shines despite tough circumstances

Despite tough circumstances, Sohn Hyun-joo keeps her chin up and gives a bright smile.

The sixth grader at Biryong Elementary School in Gimje, North Jeolla Province, was born to a Filipina mother and a Korean father. However, due to physical limitations, her father has been unable to work, and Sohn's mother earns the family's money by juggling several jobs.

Sohn, however, is excelling at school. Perhaps being the eldest in her family played a role; she was previously the vice-president of the student body in fifth grade and this year she served as the president.

The 11-year-old is also a well-achieving student in her studies. Her grades for the English are particularly outstanding.

Multicultural society’s new hope, new dream

Fifteen-year-old Lee Byung-chan from Bonghwa, North Gyeongsang Province, is noted for his upright character coupled with academic excellence.

The senior at Bonghwa Middle School is the recipient of a Korea Multicultural Youth Award for being an “exemplary” son, according to an official of the community for biracial families in the region.

Lee was born to a Korean father and Chinese mother.

A school teacher echoed this view while pointing out his potential as a future diplomat based on his skills in both Korean and Chinese.

“Lee represents our community well,” said Kang Jong-koo, head of the support center for interracial families in Lee’s hometown.

Hong dreams of becoming int'l relief worker

Being from an interracial family is a source of strength for Hong Won-joo, a 15-year-old student from Yeongi, South Chungcheong Province who has a Korean father and Japanese mother.

He was named one of the outstanding middle school students at the Korea Multicultural Youth Awards for her diligence and academic achievements and hopes to one day become an international relief worker, which requires good communication skills.

She has won a number of awards in writing competitions organized by her Jeonui Middle School. But her goal simply does not end at being a good writer. She wants to make a contribution to society by reporting the challenges faced by international relief organizations.

Hong has already participated in relief projects by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) for North Korea, Mongolia, Kenya, and Nepal. She has also taken part in a series of community service programs run by her school.

Architect-wannabe builds up construction skills

An aspiring architect, Ha Up-joon, a second grader at the Jaeneung Ubiquitous High School in Incheon, has studied architecture-related subjects very hard.

The 17-year-old was born to Taiwanese parents. He had difficulty in adapting to both Taiwanese and Korean cultures when young, but is now a prominent student in the vocational school.

Ha has won various awards from the school for obtaining high marks in school exams in science, English and Korean history. He was also awarded the second prize for good performances in the after-school class for computer-aided design (CAD) programs.

“Students usually take the CAD lectures in their third grade, but Ha completed it as a second grader. His CAD skills are almost as good as an expert architect,” Ha’s homeroom teacher Kwon Dong-hyeon said.

He is also a member of a three-dimensional modeling club, where he learns computer programming skills for his dream to be an architect.

Ha also likes reading. “He not only gains good marks in literature exams but also has better understanding in novels and poems than other students, writing good essays about books he reads,” Kwon said.

The teacher added Ha always comes to school earlier than others and do volunteer works including picking up garbage.

Multicultural background gives advantage of languages

Kim is a second grader at Munsan Girls’ High School in Paju, Gyeonggi Province. When the UNESCO-associated school held a cultural event by co-organizing it with the Korean National Commission for UNESCO, she made welcome messages and other exhibition materials in Japanese.

Having a Japanese mother and a Korean father was a chance for Kim Kyung-min to learn both languages rather than a weak point hampering speech development.

“On the day of the event, a translator from Japanese to Korean unexpectedly couldn’t come. But she volunteered to interpret. It was impromptu but she was as good as an expert,” the club teacher Choi Gyeong-yun said.

Kim also took charge of interpretation when teachers and educational officials from Japan visited the school as part of an exchange program in September.

She is good not only in Japanese but also in reading and debating, winning several awards at debate contests organized both by the school and by a regional newspaper.

Hoping to be a career coach, Kim recently started volunteer work at Paju Dream Start Center to offer consultations to children from low-income families. “I want to help people realize their dreams and play their own role for world peace,” Kim said.

'Little Psy' Hwang dreams big

Hwang Min-woo, a first grader at Odung Elementary School in Gwangju, has danced since he was three months old, according to his parents.

The dance prodigy is now called “Little Psy” as he appeared in the music video of singer Psy’s “Gangnam Style” and gained worldwide fame.

Having a Vietnamese mother who didn’t speak Korean fluently, the boy was slow in speech. But now he has no problem in speaking Korean and is catching up with his school curriculum.

Furthermore, he plans to learn Vietnamese and English as part of tools to achieve his dream of being a world star.

“I want to be a singer more famous than Psy and even Michael Jackson,” he said.

Hwang may be gifted with the charismatic face expression and groove, but he also practices a lot: He practices dancing in front of a floor-to-ceiling mirror at home, and learns singing skills and dance motions at a music institute.

He used to be famous in his town even before the music video was released, but after it was, his popularity soared. He has been busy appearing on shows, events and commercials not only in Korea but also in the U.S., the Philippines, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Britain.

Nigegian girl dreams of becoming nurse

Vanessa Ossy, a Nigerian child born in Korea, now lives in a basement half the size of her previous house because of a fire in her home in December 2011.

Her family lost nearly all of their assets but Ossy has maintained a positive attitude.

She wanted to be a teacher but now dreams of becoming a nurse after being inspired by the dedication of the nurse that treated her with loving care.

She was discharged from Hallym University Medical Center on Tuesday after receiving further treatment in Seoul since Nov. 25.

Diplomat-wannabe helps multiracial children

Diplomat-wannabe Jang Geum-sun, a second grader at Chongju Foreign Language High School in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, has helped children from multiracial families with language learning.

As a member of her school’s global volunteer group, she has taught Korean and English to kindergarten and elementary school students from multiracial families for two years.

After becoming the leader of the volunteer group this year, she has played the role of mentor for such children and frequently talks to their parents by phone or text in order to maintain a close relationship with them.

Also, she contributed to holding an exhibition to introduce different cultures, which gave her classmates the opportunity to better understand multiracial families.

“Jang is a get-ahead student and always tries new things. Thanks to the support of many of her classmates, she served as class president,” said Kim Hyun-ah, who was Jang’s homeroom teacher when Jang was in first grade.

“She is open to different cultures and harmony is the most important value for her,” Kim said.

“In order to realize her dream to be a diplomat, she persistently reads books on various areas and pays attention to politics, economics and culture.”