Rachel Choi Blog #2 Origins

Whenever the conversation leads to origins, I always find myself saying, “Oh, I’m Korean but I was born in America.”  I don’t believe I could say I am just an American when my roots are so obvious.  There are many ways one could answer where they are from.  Geographically, I am from Alexandria, Virginia.  I grew up in Nova so I usually say I am from nova but I lived the latter part of my life in Sova.  Korea doesn’t even come into the conversation unless the other person asks me “what nationality are you.”  I am not actually from Korea, my parents are.   My parents immigrated to America from Korea 24 years ago.  I was exposed to both languages as a child, which helped me become fluent in both English and Korean.  I realized that because of my perfect English accent, not one person at William and Mary would question if I was an international student.

Growing up, during the Olympics I found myself rooting for two teams, team USA and team South Korea.  A lot of my Korean friends wondered which team I would root for and I would enthusiastically reply “Team USA of course!” “I’m an American!” But as I grew older I grew prouder of my Korean roots and started to cheer on both teams. 

In Anna Deavere Smith's Twilight: Los Angeles 1992, origin showed to matter significantly.  As Smith navigated through countless personas, she provided the perspectives of not one but many sides of those who witnessed and lived through the riots.  The gestures, language, tone, etc. so prevalently differed from one perspective to another.  The film highlighted ethnic and racial diversity and how often times, we are suffer from prejudice and arguments surrounding these factors. 

The question “where are you from” can result in so many answers.  All of them are important in understanding and piecing together the person whom you are questioning.  Anywhere you go, you will find diversity. The term American envelops so many more people now than ever before. 

I was born and raised in America and I love my home country.  I am also from Korea and love the country that my parents were raised in.