The through-line in my work is care for people who are easy to overlook. An elderly neighbor who lives alone. Children in a Jeju orphanage. Teenagers at risk of drug abuse in both Korea and Los Angeles. Girls in Malaysia without reliable access to sanitary products. I keep being drawn to the same corner of the world, and it has taught me that social work is less about grand gestures than about being present, consistently, for the people in front of you.

Some of that work is public. With my brother I co-authored an anti-drug book, printed Naloxone brochures, and carried our campaign through libraries, YMCAs, and Korean-language media. Most of it is quiet. Cooking for an elderly neighbor every month, walking rescue dogs, cleaning the Hangang. I trust the consistent work more than the photogenic kind, and I want to build a life around it.