Hello! My name is Justin and I am a 4th year Public Health major at UCI.

I spent my Elementary school years in Torrance, CA, but most of my memorable childhood experiences are from my time growing up in Cypress, CA. That is where I met four very close friends who stuck with me through thick and thin. I learned what friendship meant and that it was more than hanging out when times were good. It meant being there no matter what.

 

During this time, I also attended Podowon Baptist Church

where I met my Youth Group pastor, Wilson. He was a father

figure of mine as I grew up as a latchkey kid. I looked up to

him and tried to copy everything he did-from the methodical

way he spoke to turning on the A/C and lowering the windows

of a car at the same time. Where my parents talked to me about

the finer details of life, such as grades, prospective schools,

career paths (very important things), Wilson often spoke to me

about purpose. What is the purpose of grades, school, and your

career? I very much appreciated him for not shoving religion

down my throat, but allowing me to find my own path into finding

the true purpose of life. I realized that I am not a purposeless pile

of molecules transiently floating through time and space, but I was

created for a great purpose-to enjoy God and his creation. With my

faith as my foundation, I entered UCI. However, after finishing the

first two quarters, I had to leave the comforts of Irvine for 10 months

to complete training with the US Navy and Marine Corps. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is where I spent months away from the bubble of

Orange County and the comforts of my asian american

community. During my stays in Chicago, San Antonio,

and Jacksonville, North Carolina, I met people from the

bayous of Louisiana to the jungles of Nigeria. I often

reflected on my encounters with so many people from

so many cultures and came to understand the human

condition. As the human race, we all experience hardships,

joys, pains, sadness, anger, and peace. Now, the degrees

in which each person experiences these things may differ 

from the environment they come from. However, it can be

said that being human exposes us to all these things at points

in our lives. All of us can share and relate with each other.

We are all capable of empathy. Then I wondered why this

wasn't a reality. I came to the conclusion that empathy is only

possible through the lens of perspective. If we are not willing to

put ourselves in the shoes of those we encounter, regardless of

the shared emotions, we will never truly be able to understand.