This week’s KoreAm U Student Spotlight features three students in their last year of law school at Michigan State University: William Cho, Daniel DJ Kim and Harry Jung (left to right, above).
Give a little description about yourselves and where you’re from.
Will: We are all very fortunate to be in the same graduating class representing the West Coast, Midwest, and the East Coast. I went to high school in La Crescenta near Los Angeles, DJ grew up in West Bloomfield near Detroit, and Harry grew up around New York City. For undergrad, I went to UC San Diego, DJ went to the University of Michigan, and Harry went to Hamilton College. We all took some time off before law school and now we’re in our last year of law school.
We possess three distinct personalities but we also have many similar stories about growing up as Korean Americans. We always joke about each other’s clothes or word choices as our regional stereotypes really started to show when we started hanging out.
As the first generation in your families to attend law school in the United States, what else has brought you guys together throughout the years?
We found out that we are all first-born sons to immigrant parents, so we always talk about our parents’ strong expectations concerning everything from education to marriage. We also all have younger siblings so we often discuss how Korean culture has affected our additional responsibilities to them and our family.
Our theme to get us through our last year of law school is to embody 정 (jeong) and 깡 (kgang). As we start to make our way into the real world, we don’t want to forget where we came from, while still pursuing our life and career goals. We were brought together by recognizing 정 and we were able to get through life’s obstacles through our 깡. When we were younger, it felt like our parents expectations felt like nagging but as we got older we began to understand that they meant the best for us.
Although we may not all be practicing attorneys right out of law school, we are grateful that our parents have steered us in the right direction to put ourselves in a position to pursue our own career path with the same 정 and 깡 that our parents had when they first came to the U.S. With our degrees, we hope that we can continue the tradition by helping the next generation of Korean Americans pursue their career paths whether they are through traditional or nontraditional paths.
What are you favorite things about your school?
We love the tradition of Big Ten athletics at our school. Our law school is still fairly new but we see the potential of MSU Law making a bigger name itself academically and in the legal market. We were all drawn to the strong presence of football, basketball. Coaches Mark Dantonio and Tom Izzo are great examples of advocating gritty fundamentals and establishing success through teamwork.
After a rough season in our first year, it was amazing to witness our team winning the Rose Bowl last year. Attending a school with high levels of school spirit really makes a difference. The energy on campus during game day is electric and it’s amazing to be a part of global Spartan network. Go Green!
Are there any organizations/clubs you are involved in? Tell us about what you’re up to!
There’s a wide variety of organizations on campus and it’s a great way to meet new people with similar interests. We have to spend a lot of time with the same people for class so it’s nice to come together for reasons other than academics.
DJ is the president of the Sports Law and Entertainment Society. The organization books speakers such as former sports agents to come speak about sports law. The organization also helps students network with other grad students by hosting a football game against the business school. Harry works at the Investor Advocacy Clinic where he helps represent investors with disputes and other legal programs when they are not able to secure a private attorney. I run the International Law Society where I work with the other ethnic and cultural organizations at school to help students find opportunities to work and study abroad.
Outside of school we participate in intramural sports in football, basketball, and hockey. Being from California, it’s been fun finding new places to play hockey such as rivers or outdoor rinks.
What was the hardest thing you’ve done so far?
Getting through our first year was difficult in that you really had to change the way you think and study. It’s almost like a boot camp for your mind and there are some professors that treat it that way. Time management was critical with the heavy workload but you eventually learn the system and find what you’re good at. The key thing is to find the right balance of work and fun to keep a positive and healthy mind, especially through the frigid, gloomy winter months.
Have you had any study abroad experiences?
Harry went to Korea through a program at Fordham University where he took classes and had an internship with Samsung. DJ and I both studied in Europe through MSU Law’s programs. DJ spent his summer in Croatia studying Intellectual Property during the first year Croatia was official accepted into the European Union. I was in Poland studying European Union law and had an internship researching mining law in Poland. It was fascinating to visit the sites of many significant historical events such as the Warsaw Uprising and Auschwitz.
From top to bottom: Harry, DJ and Will.
Our international experiences haves given us a broader perspective of the law and we were able to interact and make lasting friendships with foreign law students for the first time. We all hope to continue to travel to bring our cultures together.
Your go-to food places:
You can never go wrong with Dae Jang Geum in East Lansing. It opened less than a year ago and it has quickly become the best local spot for Korean food. The owner is the nicest lady and keeps the recipes authentic. Their Dak kalbi is phenomenal and has gained many new fans from our classmates. Harry could easily eat here eight times a week (he often does).
After a night out, we usually find ourselves at Udon Sushi (pictured above). They’re open until 3am and offer a mix of Chinese and Korean food. The owner is Korean but grew up in China before coming to the U.S. There is always a fun atmosphere there and their seafood pancake is near perfect!
What songs are representative of your life right now?
Our school’s unofficial anthem, “Rich Homie Quan – Some Type of Way”
And our personal favorite is Mr. Yang’s rendition of “About a Week Ago” from Bobby Shmurda
What does your typical night out consist of?
We’ll gather up our classmates and meet at the bars in East Lansing. Our favorites are Dublin and PT O’Malley’s on the weekend for cheap drinks and good music. Thursdays are our signature karaoke night at Crunchy’s where they offer delicious pizza and literally buckets of beer!
What’s your go-to selfie face?
Harry is the selfie master and has his own signature look that adapts to any time and place.
If you were trapped on a remote island, what would be your assigned tasks to survive?
DJ has always been the ambassador over the years so he would be in charge of negotiating with any of the natives on the island so that we could share the island and live in peace. Harry would be in charge of defending our settlement from any hostile people or animals. If we were to make any shelter, he’d also be the one moving the logs around. I just love to eat so I’d be in charge of the cooking and farming. I’ll make sure there’s good food and drink to get our mind off being trapped on a remote island.
If you would like to participate in KoreAm U’s Student Spotlight feature, you can find more information here. Alumni, we have something for you too!
