“I found my inner strength through good people and the validation that I can be whoever I want”

Story #7

Rachel, college sophomore, first-generation Korean-American

Interviewed & Written by Jenna Hansen

Edited by Madeline Humphery

“I never thought I would be an immigrant. I never thought I would get a green card. That was never the plan.”

Rachel Minyoung Do arrived in the United States when she was just eleven years old. She came by herself from Seoul, South Korea. Rachel had come to study abroad, with the intention of staying with a host family in Orange County, California for just one year. 

After six months, her plans were turned upside down. 

In January 2012, when she was only halfway through her year of studying abroad, Rachel’s host family contacted her parents. They said that, regrettably, their circumstances had changed, and that they could no longer host Rachel. Given that Rachel still had a semester left to finish in the US, this placed her family in a difficult situation. 

Rachel’s mother decided that she would come to stay with Rachel for the remainder of the school year. When the semester ended and the time came to leave, Rachel’s parents asked her what she wanted to do. 

She wanted to stay. 

Inadvertently, Rachel liked going to school here so much that she ended up staying all the way through high school. In 2017, Rachel and her mother started the process of obtaining a green card, and luckily they received it by the end of 2018. 

Rachel’s migration has greatly shaped her identity and how she views the world. When talking about the fact that she is currently in Seoul, she stated that America is home. She may be in Korea at the moment, but she is at her dad’s apartment — not her home. 

Rachel also emphasized that her family dynamic is something that people rarely understand. It is hard for her to explain that her parents are still together, despite the fact that they are physically apart. People tend to assume that her parents are no longer together, which brings to light another challenge that Rachel has faced: assumptions. 

A few years ago, Rachel had her name changed. Instead of going by Minyoung, she now goes by Rachel Do. While she had a number of reasons for doing this, she stated that her name too often incited questions about her origins. 

“I get the question: ‘where are you from?’ And that has many meanings,” Rachel said, “especially when it’s followed up by ‘where are you really from?’” 

Rachel stated that these questions in particular have often made her feel out of place and different in the country that she considers home. 

However, even after changing her name, she still receives these questions. It pains her to think that people assume that she is not American simply by looking at her. Her physical attributes are not something that she can change (nor should she want to). 

“It pains me that because of how I look, I will never be American to you,” Rachel said. 

Coming to understand the concept of microaggressions was a painful learning-curve for Rachel, as she did not initially understand that innocent questions can actually be threatening or accusatory. She cited that ignorant people were a significant source of stress for her in school and other public places.

Even more confusing for Rachel is the relationship between her Koreanness and her American identity. Rachel was born in and spent her childhood in Korea, but she was essentially raised in America. She identifies with American pop culture much more than that of Korea, as it is what she knows and loves. This has often left Rachel feeling conflicted. 

She feels as though her Koreanness invalidates her Americanness, and that her Americanness invalidates her Koreanness. 

Through all of these challenging circumstances, there were many things that gave Rachel strength. Most important to Rachel’s success was herself. She went into high school with a new, positive mindset which led her to find good friends who treated her as they would any other friend. 

“There were no descriptions in front of me — to them I was just Rachel,” she stated. 

As she has gotten older and met new people in college, she has become proud of her roots. A love for Korea does not make her feel less American, and a love for America does not make her feel less Korean. 

“I found my inner strength through good people and the validation that I can be whoever I want.”