'My ultimate goal is to make people laugh'
Jung Ja-young, 12, smiles during an interview with The Korea Times insider her classroom at Jusang Elementary School in Geochang County, South Gyeongsang Province, Dec. 5. / Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk
By You Soo-sun
Twelve-year-old Jung Ja-young, the winner of the top prize at the sixth Korea Multicultural Youth Awards, is among 10 biracial children at her school consisting of 24 students in Geochang County, South Gyeongsang Province.
Most people in Korea may think of Jung as having many disadvantages as a biracial child growing up in a rural area. While this may certainly be the case, Jung has shown that her background can be used to her advantage.
Born to a Filipina mother, Jung was able to pick up the English language at home. “Other kids struggle to learn English, but it was easier for me since I was able to learn it from my mom,” Jung said in an interview with The Korea Times conducted inside her home classroom at Jusang Elementary School.
And it was her mother who told her she won the Minister of Gender Equality and Family Award, the grand prize at the Multicultural Youth Awards, organized by The Korea Times.
“It was a competition held nationwide. I was even more surprised when I found out I was the winner of the grand prize,” Jung said. “It made me glad.”
Lover of challenges
Jung Ja-young and her classmates listen to their teacher during a science class. There are just four sixth graders at Jusang Elementary School. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk
Although Jung comes off as shy, she clearly does not shy away from challenges.
Jung’s favorite class is math, a subject that is most feared by her classmates. It was for a simple reason: “I like solving problems,” she said.
Jung is also the one to help her peers get through math problems. One of her classmates vented she would no longer have her best friend to help her when they go to different middle schools next year.
Her eagerness to learn and demonstrate her capabilities has already won her numerous awards at county- and province-level contests.
In October, she won first place in the county’s reading contest. She also won the top prize for presenting the best Korean calligraphy awarded by the district’s education superintendent.
Jung is also athletic, winning top prizes for bowling, relay racing, and high jumping at county sports competitions, thereby helping her school win the grand prize this year.
“I like to achieve things,” she said when asked what motivated her to participate in various competitions. But her ultimate challenge, she said, is to make people laugh. “My dream is to become a producer of entertainment shows.”
Growing up in close-knit rural community
Nowadays, most students in Korea grow up in the city. Inevitably, students attending schools in rural places face vastly different experiences.
Most activities happen inside the school, Jung’s teacher explained. Fortunately, her school offers a wide range of activities including theater, calligraphy, watercolor art, piano, violin and sports. Students, regardless of their age and class, participate in these activities together.
Unlike students living in the city who devote much of their time to studying at private institutions, Jung and her peers go straight home after school.
Jung’s teacher explained her students have very limited access to out-of-school education, putting them at an academic disadvantage.
But Jung, the teacher said, took to the habit of studying independently. She would spend her evenings studying at home, and thus has maintained excellent grades.
Although a higher achiever, she still strives to make time to help others. At school, she helps her classmates with math. And at home, she assists her mom by caring for her two younger siblings.
And it was her active engagement in the community that played a critical role in awarding her the grand prize.
Once a year, students prepare something for the elderly in the district.
“This year, we made kimchi and distributed it to the elderly in the town,” Jung recalled. “It was the most memorable volunteering activity I’ve done.”
Besides Jung, there are only three other sixth graders at the school. She has stayed with her only female classmate for the last five years. Even on the weekends, the two would meet up to eat their favorite snack, instant noodles.
After class is over, the three students worked together to clean the classroom and take out the trash together. “I’ll really miss them,” Jung said.
Jung Ja-young, 12, practices Korean calligraphy as part of her afterschool program. / Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk