Esther Sohn

SFS ’16
Hometown: Toronto, Canada
Major: International Politics and International Law

You said you’re from Canada. That mean’s you’re technically an international student right?
I actually have kind of a weird origin story. I was born in South Korea but my family emigrated to Canada when I was nine and I became a naturalized citizen so I’ve been living in Canada since then.

How would you compare Toronto to Georgetown and where would you say you’re more comfortable?
Growing up in Canada, I wanted to go to a school in the States for a long time because I wanted to go into the bigger world, I guess. Coming here I do see the ups and downs of being in the States. I still identify myself as a Korean-Canadian – that’s how I see myself.

What’s the hardest thing you have ever had to do?
This might sound like a silly answer, but when my family first immigrated to Canada we moved to a city called Calgary, which is on the west side of Canada. Then when I was 12 we moved to Toronto. Even moving from one city to another is such a big change, it was as if I was moving to another country. The culture was definitely not the same, the politics was not the same, the people that I was around were not the same. It was a huge transition and I guess having to say goodbye to the friends back in Calgary was one of the biggest things I had to deal with as a child.

What’s your favorite class you’ve taken at Georgetown?
I’m actually taking a really good class right now! It’s called “Truth, Relativism and Natural Law” and it’s with Fr. Fields and he’s an incredible professor and I feel so honored to be in his class. I never walk out of the door of the class without thinking, “Wow, that was a mind-blowing class.” The subject is something that interests me as well and it’s something I want to study next year when I’m at Oxford.

If you could change one thing about yourself what would it be – Or what’s the biggest change you have consciously made in your life and why?
When I was little I had a lot of white friends and not a lot of Korean friends and I was always slightly jealous of everyone else having middle names and I did not like that part about myself. I wanted to fit in and wanted to see myself as one of them so I gave myself a middle name. For a while I went by Esther Megan Sohn. I realized in retrospect how silly it sounds but I guess that during that time I didn’t see myself as who I was but now I see myself as a Korean-Canadian and this is my identity.

Did you experiences with “big moves” early in life make it easier to come to college?
I think it definitely did make it easier because I do identify myself as a third culture kid basically, and sometimes it’s hard to locate exactly where my identity lies but at the same time, I’m thankful for all the experiences I have had and I see myself as more open-minded to different aspects and it makes it easier to get along with different people. Georgetown is full of so many different backgrounds – people come from everywhere around the world so it makes it a lot easier to get along with people and see their different points of view as well.

There are a lot of third culture kids at Georgetown – has that been a good or helpful thing for you ?
In the past I saw it as a negative thing, as something I couldn’t release myself from because I was so different from everyone else – especially my friends back home because I wanted to be just like them then coming to college and seeing how everyone takes pride in their ethnicity or where they come from and what they believe in and it made me realize that yes this is who I am and it’s a part of me and I really do think it’s a positive thing in my life. English is my first language but I also learned Korean from a very young age and I think having learned those two languages simultaneously really helped me learn other languages quickly – I’m proficient in French as well. I’m in the SFS so I had to take the proficiency exams and it was so easy for me to take the French and Korean exams.

Interview by Nicole Jarvis