Episode 21: Joon Sub Lee

May 21, 2019

I’m not a huge fan of ice breakers, especially when someone asks, “where are you from?” That’s something I have to think about and my answer changes based on the situation. I was born in South Korea, but when I was 18 months old my family moved to Guam because my dad works in construction and had a project to manage. We were there for about 6 years before moving back to Korea, where I stayed until I was 16. At that time, I was following the normal path to college and had to face the college entrance exam, which is more extreme than the SATs in the states because your entire education is made to feel like it leads to this one exam that happens only once a year. Preparation for it is extremely stressful and a lot of students really struggle. In the middle of my junior year of high school, I was supposed to take the exam the following year but something pulled me to the states to study abroad. I repeated a year and a half to start as a sophomore at a boarding school in New York called Trinity-Pawling, which is an hour north from here. After graduating, I did my undergrad at UC Berkeley and then lived in Philly for three years before coming to NYMC. Throughout my whole life, I don’t think I’ve lived in one specific spot for more than three years. So whenever someone asks “where are you from?”, I have to stop and think. My stance is that home is where family is and right now my family is in South Korea, so that’s what I say most often. But I don’t think this necessarily captures who I am today and how I got here.

Though moving around so much has been difficult, I think it’s helped me develop into the person I am. I can’t say I picked up a specific trait from each place but it’s more that all my experiences have mixed together to make up myself. It’s not that I picked up a NY trait or a CA trait, but it’s more that who I am or what I think as a person has been molded or affected by each place. So when I moved back to New York to start at NYMC, I didn’t feel like I became a New Yorker but I still feel like I’m part of the community.

I think this perspective also helps me better relate to people. I can adapt and enjoy being able to get to know people relatively easily regardless of who they are and their background. During my gap years in Philadelphia, I worked with a lot of different people while volunteering at a science museum and the VA medical center. For the VA, I was in the hematology/oncology clinic for 2 years and developed close relationships with both the staff and patients. One day, before interviewing for NYMC, I told the nurses I wouldn’t be in next week because I would be up in Valhalla for a med school interview. When I went back the following week, one of the nurses slid me an envelope, saying, “Mr. So-and-so wanted me to give you this.” Inside I found a bracelet of rosary beads. He was a cancer patient who also had Parkinson’s and he made jewelry to deal with the tremors. He wanted to give me the bracelet as a good luck charm, and I guess it worked! I found this extremely touching and still think about this relationship that I was able to make through working at the VA. Instead of feeling like I don’t have a concrete background or home, I try to embrace what has come out of my experiences. I’ve had so many opportunities to make new friends and join new communities, and therefore so many people have cheered me on as I found my way here.

One thing that I did when I first came to NYMC was to always try to ask, “what’s been on your mind lately?” I’m sure it annoyed the hell out of my friends but it’s my favorite conversation starter. Nine out of ten times the initial responses were about school so I started to preface it with, “something outside of school.” It’s surprising how much I can learn about a person with this question. People would share something like, “Oh, I’ve been watching this TV show because I’ve been wanting to learn more about this culture,” or, “I checked out this restaurant in Tarrytown and it was really amazing - you should check it out.” I always try to approach people with the sense that they will have something that I can learn from them. So whenever I meet someone, that’s why I love to learn about their life story. I never know where the conversation is going to go, but I’m sure everyone has a story of their own regardless of what they’ve been through.

What are your 5 Most Recently Played Artists?
Epik High, Nell, Simply Three, 2CELLOS and Imagine Dragons

If you could have any superpower, which one would you choose?
Teleportation, I’m getting tired of plane rides.

Pick something or someone from NYMC go give out a shout of to!
My roommate Ben Epstein who is a 3rd year. He offers great advice, sanity most importantly and occasional fast food runs.

If someone wanted to talk to you, they should lead with…
I’m a huge foodie so if anything, it would be a good restaurant or coffee shop. I like random conversations so just talking about what’s been on their mind lately also works.