1. The behavioral health care and interprofessional collaboration aspects of this program will provide me a cross-cultural awareness of health care in which I can use in my everyday academics at IUPUI and in my future career. I am a Sophomore at IUPUI majoring in Psychology along with a minor in Health Communications. I plan to finish my undergrad and then directly apply to Masters and PhD programs in the Fall of 2021. My career goals include becoming a clinical psychologist or a mental health counselor at a private practice.

 

I am also interested in Associate Professor Hea-Won Kim’s research on the Adult Needs and Strengths Assessment tool. I would like to hear Professor Kim’s opinions on the mental health care in South Korea, how this care compares to America’s, and how her current research relates to modern private practice treatments for severe mental illness. It is known to me about the high suicide rates in South Korea, especially in young teenagers. Professor Kim’s background on severe mental illness research can offer me some insight on this issue; at the same time, it will give me skills that I could use in my professional career with caring for suicidal teens.

Also, I am pursuing a minor in Health Communications that I will integrate into my future career. This program’s focus on health care and interprofessional collaboration will contribute to my health communications minor by providing me with real world skills in how to effectively communicate in a global health setting such as learning how South Koreans view their own health and behavioral health communication. Only this program can offer me skills and experiences that will help me in a therapy setting. After this program, I will have cross cultural knowledge on national health insurance services, mental health community centers, child cancer hospitals, and health cities. Using this knowledge, I can apply it to my professional objectives by having a cultural awareness in health which is crucial to a job in clinical or private mental health settings where you are interacting with clients from a variety of cultures. Also having cultural awareness on interprofessional collaboration will help me succeed in providing the best care needed for my patients because I can reference South Korea’s collaboration practices to understand my own.

2. Growing up in Indiana, I became best friends with my neighbor, who is Korean and comes from a strong traditional household. Because her parents did not speak English, I was able to experience the Korean language at an early age in elementary school. I spent countless hours at her house while having traditional Korean meals, learning small Korean phrases, and being welcomed as family into a part of their culture. I truly felt like I was a part of her family, and that her home was also mine. Later in high school, I became best friends with a girl who had an extreme passion to become an ESL teacher. She introduced me to other parts of Korean culture such as popular Korean dramas. Through that short 3-year friendship, I was able to learn about this culture again. I want to experience their educational system that I saw so much of in the dramas, see the beautiful architecture of Seoul, and finally, get to visit a real Korean coffee shop.
 

This culture has been a part of my life since elementary school and I’ve learned valuable things from it. I’ve even integrated aspects of it into my daily life because it was such a big part of my upbringing. Theses aspects include appreciating the ability to work hard, respecting my elders, and valuing my family relationships. This opportunity to visit South Korea is something that I’ve been trying to find my entire life. Aside from family traditions, South Korea is vastly improving and known as one of the best countries, economically, in the world. It intrigues me how such a small country can develop so quickly and successfully. They are also one of the top academically competitive countries worldwide. I have always wanted to experience this rigorous academic culture and the economic improvements first hand.

3. My greatest strength is my passion for school, specifically psychology. I am extremely motivated to do whatever it takes to become a clinical psychologist or a mental health counselor. To do this, I balance a 16-credit hour course load, while maintaining a GPA above 3.5, along with 18 hours at my current job each week. I  work 45 hours a week during the summer to save money for graduate school. This has been my routine for the past 3 years. I see this opportunity to study health and behavioral health care in South Korea as a stepping stone that will drive my passion further and will help me excel in my future career. Because of my strong passion for school and hardworking personality, I will be driven to successfully meet the academic standards for this program.
 

Not only am I extremely motivated in my academics, but I am also hard working, willing to immerse myself in a new culture, unbothered by tight schedules, reliable, experienced with traveling out of the country, and fully independent. During my sophomore year of high school, I traveled to Nicaragua with my local church and a professional mission’s organization called “Youth With A Mission”. For the duration of the trip, I helped teach a Sunday school every evening to the local kids, as well as partnered with local churches to help them reach out to their community. Before the evening Sunday school lessons began, I was challenged to invite locals to our event without using a translator. Because I knew no Spanish, I was given an opportunity to learn how to effectively communicate my message to the locals in other ways than just words. I have experience communicating around language barriers and being able to connect with a culture other than my own. I was also able to use these skills again, and build on them, when I went to Monterrey, Mexico with the same organization my senior year of high school. During my time in Mexico, we were without power for 2 days in 105 degree weather. I am very adaptable to challenging situations so this was not a problem. I also do not know any Korean but because of my two previous experiences outside of the country dealing with the same barrier, I know that I can use this experience and successfully communicate in South Korea.

4. I expect the most challenging aspects of studying abroad to be new language barriers and navigating an unfamiliar public transportation system.

During my time in Mexico and Nicaragua, I adapted to a new language and social norm system. But because Spanish is derived from Latin, like English, I was able to infer meaning from phrases and words. The Korean language consists of characters, something that I’ve very unfamiliar with. I will not be able to guess the meaning of words out of context like I have done before. Instead, I will have to rely on a translator and translation apps. But in Mexico and Nicaragua, I frequently worked along side of translators so I am familiar with this mode of communication. And because of my childhood experience with having a Korean best friend, I know a few small Korean phrases that I could practice. This new language barrier will be challenging and different from my last, but I am prepared for it.

Another challenge that I expect from studying abroad is traveling within an unfamiliar city. In America, I am comfortable with driving myself to certain locations and even other states. It is easy to navigate the American highway system because I have driven on it my entire life. And with cars being easily accessible and the cultural pressure to own your own vehicle, I have very little experience with the public transportation system. From previous knowledge, I know that public transportation in South Korea relies heavily on buses and trains. I will more than likely struggle with these modes of transportation because I have used them very little. But I also understand that many restaurants and main locations are within walking distance from one another. And because this program’s hotel, the EVER8, is within walking distance from Ewha Womans University, there is easy access to explore new restaurants and have cultural experiences. To be prepared for this new transportation system, I will have the hotels address on me at all times and carry a map. I am confident that I will run into navigation issues, but I am also confident that I have the skills necessary to overcome these challenges.

5. I found out about this program from searching for psychology related programs on “IAbroad”. I chose this specific program because of it’s direct link to my academic interests in behavioral health and location in South Korea.