VOICES Publishing from the AAJA National Convention
Tragedy reset my path to journalism.
I had strayed from my dream of being a bilingual TV reporter after learning about the low salaries, long hours and overall stressful work environment.
But a gun attack on June 5, 2014, made me rethink all that.
The 26-year-old gunman killed my friend and wounded two other fellow students at my school, Seattle Pacific University. Prosecutors would later release his seven-page journal that said he admired the Columbine and Virginia Tech shootings.
Authorities say he arrived on campus with a hunting knife and 50 rounds of ammunition. After shooting three, a student working as a safety monitor, disarmed him with pepper spray, and the police promptly arrived.
During the three hours of lockdown, I was only two blocks away from the scene, working on homework at my desk. I could hear my resident advisor in the hallway yelling at everyone to lock our doors immediately. I heard helicopters flying above the building and sirens going off around campus.
The danger was nerve-racking, but listening to the news on the radio kept me informed.
In that moment I realized the importance and responsibility of journalists to deliver truth to the public.
It took a few days for me to learn the student who was killed was my friend and fellow hip hop dancer, Paul Lee. That news also came from journalists, via The Seattle Times.
Paul’s warm gestures and our shared cultural background, including love of K-pop music and Korean barbeque, had made me feel welcome on a campus of predominantly white students.
And now he’s gone.
Since Virginia Tech Shooting in 2007 there have been dozens of shootings on university campuses.
It has taken so long for me to accept the fact that our school is on that long, infamous list, and that I will never be able to see Paul dance again to bring joy to so many people.
Many people have doubted me when I say I intend to be a news reporter with English as my second language. But the desire to share Paul’s memory – helping to empower others – now outweighs the criticism.
I am now proudly one of the 16 selected participants on VOICES, which is going to be another tremendous step toward my dream of becoming a bilingual journalist. I’m truly thrilled to learn new things and be exposed to things I’ve never experienced before.
Paul taught me how to not be scared of the future, be confident in who I am and what I can offer the world as a journalist. For that I am forever grateful.
#DanceforPaul
