LETTER FROM THE EDITOR - VOL. 6
KCCNYC Monthly - Vol. 6
By Eun Byoul Oh
Photo credit to Mary Klein, an adoptee student of KCCNYC.
On the left is Mary and her child, on the right is her birth mother who Mary reunited with after many years. Read Mary Klein’s story in the VOICES of KCCNYC ADOPTEES collection for this month.
November is National Adoption Awareness Month, and as I begin to write this month’s editor’s note, I get to reflect on all the adoptee students that I have met and taught in KCCNYC. Since its establishment, KCCNYC has had many adoptee students and their families who became part of the community.
When I had just started at KCCNYC, an adoptee student brought his 6-year old son on his lap to class. He wanted his child to grow up in touch with the culture that he had been deprived of having chances to learn. I also think of Sarah, who has taken classes in order to learn more about her adoptive children’s home country. I think of Alice, Sarah’s child, who took classes to learn about how to reconnect with Korea.
In 2020, KCCNYC introduced the first adoptee-only class settings and subsidized classes. Korly, who was reconnecting with her birth parents at the time, suggested to us if we would be able to cater classes only for the adoptee experience.
Due to COVID-19, our classes were transitioning to online classes at the time, and the adoptee-only Korean classes invited many adoptees across the U.S. to reconnect with Korean culture and language.
In those classes, I met Jon, who is our monthly writer for “This Month in Korean Adoptees,” and many others who you will get to meet through their unique stories in this month’s newsletter.
I have to say, through meeting wonderful and unique individuals in our classes, I personally learned important aspects of the Korean adoptee community in the U.S., which I would not have ever known if I did not meet our students.
Furthermore, as a person who was not raised by my biological parents, despite knowing them, I felt solidarity with the students who share similar traumas and emotions. I realized that I was not the only one who was suffering from anxieties and damages from the feeling of abandonment; looking for answers to why things played out the way they did.
I felt empowered by the stories of our students who candidly shared their stories with me in classes. I sincerely hope that our KCCNYC classes were able to provide them with support and resources.
I have always told my adoptee students that they do not have to “feel Korean” if they are not ready, and that it is okay to feel the way they feel. Every adoptee has his or her own journey, and learning Korean language and culture can be part of their experience. KCCNYC and staff will always be mindful of each individual’s own experience.
Now as the newsletter begins to unfold, I encourage everyone to read each adoptee's stories for some time. They are powerful stories that we are honored to present to you. Some of these stories deal with some very heavy themes, so please be kind with yourselves while reading them. KCCNYC and the KCCNYC Monthly team extend our gratitude to everyone who had the courage to share a part of themselves with everyone in our community and more. KCCNYC will always continue to tell the stories of Korean adoptees.
감사합니다.
Eun Byoul Oh
