world scholar >> student profile

As a seminary student, wife, volunteer, ESL tutor, and women’s rights activist, Nayoung Ha’s days are plenty busy.

Nayoung, 33, is a student at McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago and hails from Busan, the second largest city and a harbor town in South Korea.

She didn’t start out in ministry. In undergrad, she majored in public administration, but didn’t like it. She then enrolled at Han Shin Theological Seminary in Seoul and graduated with a Master of Divinity ( M.Div.).

Nayoung arrived in the US in 2003 with her then-fiance, Min Won Song, to participate in McCormick’s Summer Language Institute, an intensive ESL and cultural orientation program for international students. After the program, the couple returned to Seoul for their wedding and honeymoon. Min Won then returned to McCormick for classes while Nayoung stayed on at Han Shin to finish her M.Div. program.

Upon graduation, Nayoung came back to Chicago to join her husband, and both were awarded a full scholarship into McCormick’s Master of Arts in Theological Studies program.

However, because she had to switch visas, Nayoung had a semester where she could neither work nor study. She enjoyed this immensely. After all, she had been working and studying since she was 19.

“I came from a poor family,” she explains, “but this scholarship offered a living stipend for one year.”

This allowed her the chance to try out “everything I ever wanted to do, even before classes started.” She began volunteering at a Korean women’s domestic violence shelter, and also participated in lay classes and “all kinds of other activities,” which included participation in the Vagina Monologues and Chapel services on campus.

“In the US, everything is much slower. Korea is a fast-lane country in terms of schedules and even one’s social agenda. It is a small country, but there’s lots going on. This is true also of your family, particularly brothers and sisters, and needing to make time to spend with them,” she says.

Since arriving here, she feels as though she’s “slipped away” somewhat from family and domestic life. She initially felt insulated from what’s happening in the US. She also found it difficult to live in Chicago at first. Her English wasn’t what she would like it to be and as a result, she didn’t take the time to develop friendships with others even though there were other international students on campus.

“I was lonely, missing my city, and my English wasn’t improving, but then I decided this is my life and where I’m living now, so now it’s important to me,” she says. She credits her faith with bringing her out of her shell.

“From that point on, it was very exciting.”

When she first arrived, Nayoung was doing the housework while Min Won was doing homework. Now that they are both students, she says, “It’s good. We can discuss our studies together, argue, and develop our thoughts.”

Still, their academic interests are different. Nayoung prefers practical ministry skills such as counseling and preaching, while Min Won is more interested in the academic study of theology, the Bible, and the Biblical languages of Greek and Hebrew.

As individuals, she says, they are very different, too. Nayoung is outgoing while Min Won is shy. They used to disagree over going to parties, or whether to attend the weekly social gatherings organized by Residence Life. After a while, they reached a settlement: she would attend and see their friends, and he would enjoy his time at home.

“Chicago is a good place for international students,” Nayoung says. “It’s racially diverse, and there’s an ecumenical community here — not just Presbyterian, but Lutheran, Episcopalian, Reformed, Catholic, Muslim, etc.”

She says Koreans are more passive students but in order to become a more successful student in America, they should overcome this.

“I didn’t use to write what I think; or do field trips, active research, presentations, or class discussions,” says Nayoung, who now helps new international students through the language program at McCormick. “Korean students here can lose their way because they don’t know what to do,”

“Students need to be active listeners. Try and engage at least once in the classroom discussion. Say something just to keep speaking. Make the effort,” she advises. “We have to challenge ourselves in order to improve ourselves.”

She says students who don’t speak perfect English should still engage their classmates in conversation.

“Sometimes you need to be ‘selfish’ in communication. Try even if you’re not fluent, even if the other person isn’t comfortable.”

In 2004 Nayoung began working with KAN-WIN, a not-for-profit organization providing services to Korean-American women who are victims of domestic violence.

At first she was volunteering twice per week with administrative work. She then completed the 40-hour training crisis counselor certification program and began conducting client interviews with Korean-Americans and others who feared losing their visas if they reported their abusive partners.

Due to the demands of school, her role at KAN-WIN is now smaller, but she does work on domestic violence awareness on campus.

For the past two years, she has organized a domestic violence conference at the seminary for Korean classmates and their families. She recruits her classmates to volunteer and complete the 40-hour training. Now four other students and their spouses are involved, including a male Korean pastor.

After graduation this spring, Nayoung intends to return to Korea to work with the country’s women, children, mixed-race and migrant workers.

She also hopes to develop awareness-raising programs in the church for Korea’s gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered citizens.