Vol. 8 [UT Member Interview]🎤Chaewon "Joanne" Kim (ILA '17) Part 1 of 2

This is Part 1 of 2 of our interview with Chaewon "Joanne" Kim (ILA ’17), who continues to serve as a member of the PR team under our alumni association’s Membership Development Committee.
Separate from Part 2 of 2 published in Issue No. 5, this interview places greater focus on her life as an individual.

🎤 How do your days usually begin these days?
These days, it feels like my entire daily routine consists of washing up, having breakfast, and changing clothes. While in the Netherlands, I spent much of my time handling administrative matters and taking care of household tasks.

🎤 Is there a habit from your university days that has stayed with you until now?
When my mind feels cluttered or emotionally weighed down, I tend to leave for somewhere far away or overseas. The reason is that when I am too close to a situation, I find it difficult to view it objectively. So when I feel overwhelmed or mentally unsettled, I usually step away for a while to create some distance.

🎤 Is there a place on campus that still comes to mind from time to time?
It has already been nine years since I graduated, but rather than nostalgia for campus itself, the place that remains most memorable to me is Whitis, the residence hall where I lived during my first year. At the time, there were not many out-of-state students there, and because I had come alone without any personal connections, I remember struggling quite a bit. But it remains especially meaningful to me because it was the place that helped an out-of-state student like myself adapt within that small community.

In particular, one of my freshman-year roommates is now living in Korea and getting married this year, which makes Whitis an even more cherished and happy memory for me.

🎤 How similar is your current life or work to what you imagined as a student?
To be honest, my life today feels quite different from what I imagined as a student. Back then, the typical career path was to join a large corporation and work toward promotion, so I naturally assumed I would do the same after graduation. But I ultimately returned to Korea, and some people may see my career path as unconventional. There were times when things diverged so greatly from what I had imagined that I wondered whether I was on the wrong path. Looking back, though, I feel fortunate that I did not follow a conventional route.

🎤 Was there a moment when work changed the way you see people or the world?
Through work, I think my perspective on people and the world has broadened. The biggest change is that I have learned to feel that it is okay when things do not go according to plan. From my university years through my late twenties, situations that strayed from my plans—especially being rejected in interviews and similar experiences—felt genuinely painful and discouraging. And I’m a P, after all (laughs).

But as I’ve gone through life, I realized that things working out according to my wishes are not always necessarily for the best. There have been several situations where I later thought things might actually have turned out worse had they gone exactly as I intended. For example, there were times when I applied for a business opportunity I wanted and was unsuccessful, or submitted a bid and did not win. Along the way, I also learned that I cannot always assume my own thinking is right. Through these experiences, I think I have become a bit more flexible.

Now, I often find that things which did not go according to my wishes ultimately turned out well. Of course, I imagine this is something many people come to realize as they move through life.

🎤 By your standards these days, what makes for a “good day?”
When I was younger, a good day felt like an extremely busy day—a day packed continuously with things to do. I really wanted to be busy, and although it may sound strange, being consumed by work somehow looked admirable to me. But when that continued for too long, burnout eventually followed. Now, while living in the Netherlands, I find myself thinking that if I can simply get through a day without any problems, there may be no better day than that.

🎤 If you had a completely free day with nothing scheduled, what would you want to do?
I think I would probably sleep all day.. haha

🎤 What kind of work tends to give you the most energy or sense of fulfillment?
Whenever I see that sales increased because of me, or that someone was happy because of a gift I gave, I feel especially energized and fulfilled. I find the greatest sense of purpose in moments when someone else’s life becomes happier through me. I suppose those are the kinds of experiences that give anyone energy and fulfillment. Of course, that may relate to work—or it may not.

🎤 What first led you to become involved with the alumni association?
My involvement with the alumni association began when senior alumnus Yongtae Jeon (ECON '10) encouraged me, saying, “There’s a UT alumni association now—would you like to check it out?” I had long wanted a sense of alumni connection and was eager to meet new people, so I joined. Somehow, I eventually found myself serving as part of the leadership team as well. I did not begin with the intention of taking on an operational role, but over the past year, despite my own shortcomings, I was able to participate very happily thanks to the help and kindness of many people.

🎤 What do you value most about being connected with fellow alumni in Korea?
In truth, I did not have many Korean friends during college. Part of that was intentional. But after returning to Korea, I found myself unexpectedly missing that sense of alumni connection. Being connected with fellow Korean alumni feels especially meaningful because we can share and relate to a kind of nostalgia for the United States together. I did not realize this at first, but through alumni activities, people I knew as undergraduates sometimes show up. That is both fascinating and fun. It also makes me happy to see how they have established themselves. Perhaps they, too, feel a similar sense of joy and reflection when they see how I have settled into my own life.

🎤 Is there something about your city or daily life these days that you quietly appreciate?
Yes, I will be living near The Hague in the Netherlands beginning in July, and I am currently staying here for about a month in March to take care of various administrative matters (Editor’s Note: At the time of the interview, Chaewon "Joanne" was staying in the Netherlands.). Since arriving, what I appreciate most is just how quiet it is. It is not rural, but it is peaceful while still being close to the city, which makes it a very pleasant place to live. While living in Korea—especially Seoul—I often felt as though I was being chased by work around the clock. Here, I clearly feel a separation between work and life.

And as many people already know, the Netherlands is a country of bicycles, right? In reality, people of all ages ride bicycles everywhere. I have always loved cycling, so this environment makes me feel confident that I will be able to live healthily going forward, and I truly love that.

🎤 Is there a side of you that fellow alumni may not know yet, but would probably enjoy discovering?
This may not be something fellow alumni know about me, but the person I remember most is my Spanish professor. I am not connected with many people on Facebook, but that professor is one of the few. If that professor were ever to visit Korea, I think I would be genuinely delighted to see them again.