“I was doing something I love so much that it didn’t really feel like work anymore”
So my question is, describe a time that you felt you truly grew into your role on a team and discovered something new about yourself as a result. So in high school, I was part of my school’s radio station. And I was naturally a pretty shy and quiet person, and I don’t really enjoy talking in front of other people. So I found the first year pretty challenging because of that. You know, just having to talk in front of a microphone without other people — in front of a lot of other people that would be listening.
However, I had listened to the station a little bit prior to joining, especially in middle school when covid hit. And around this time, this was when groups like BTS and Blackpink, just a lot of K-pop groups were really starting to emerge in the K-pop industry. And growing up as a Korean-American, I found it really interesting that the radio station had a separate specialty show where one of the staff members would play music in this genre and then talk about it.
And so naturally I became really interested in this and I even audi- this led me to audition to the station during my sophomore year, after spending a virtual year — after spending my freshman year virtually. And about halfway through this year, I decided to take action, so I started talking with one of the other staff members and together, we were able to create a K-pop specialty show after the old host graduated. And it was really fun because I was doing something I love so much that it didn’t really feel like work anymore. And I was glad that I was able to share my story and the stories of people in this industry, and hopefully people that were listening would be able to take something valuable from these things that I was sharing.
And I started off with reading a script, just because I was pretty afraid to make mistakes the first times around. But gradually, I started going off and just talking on the spot, which built a lot of my confidence and pride in my speaking abilities and growth. And I think that this experience now as a college student really shaped who I am today, and it kind of shown me the importance of sharing my story with others. Even if you don’t — even if no one is listening, or there’s only a couple people, you’re still putting your words out there. And, I think that being a naturally shy person — as being someone who was naturally shy, I would often wait for these opportunities to find me. And I think that this experience really showed me that I have to be the one to find these opportunities instead of waiting around because you never know what you could be missing in that moment if you’re not, you know, putting your foot forward, even if you’re afraid. And I think that joining radio was one of the best decisions in my personal growth, and it also allowed me to meet some amazing people, make up — make great friends, find amazing co-workers. And just, it was — I was really happy to celebrate this emerging diversity in my own community through storytelling.