{"id":217,"date":"2023-05-31T18:34:25","date_gmt":"2023-05-31T22:34:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/diversityandinclusion\/?p=217"},"modified":"2025-01-06T13:40:13","modified_gmt":"2025-01-06T17:40:13","slug":"what-being-asian-american-means-to-me-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/diversityandinclusion\/2023\/05\/31\/what-being-asian-american-means-to-me-5\/","title":{"rendered":"What Being Asian American Means to Me"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>\u00a0 By Grace Sur<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

I got on my first airplane right before my \ubc31\uc77c, 100th day birthday, which is historically a big day in Korea as it marks the survival of a baby in a country that endured brutal colonialism and an equally brutal civil war before catapulting to one of the largest economies in the world overnight. My father was a junior \uc9c1\uc6d0 (loosely means \u201ccorporate subordinate\u201d) of a Samsung subsidiary, and they tasked him to boost international sales based out of Los Angeles. Both my parents learned a bit of English in high school and university in Korea but as anyone who has learned a new language knows, speaking it or even trying to understand it amongst native speakers is a whole other ball game. \u00a0It is not only intimidating but can be deeply isolating and lonely. \u00a0Thankfully there was a well-established Korean community in and around L.A. and we made the trip to K-town every weekend. My mom found community at the local Korean church while my dad had to entertain clients, even on weekends.<\/p>\n

My parents rarely talk about the difficulties they endured in a completely new world with no friends or family as young parents to my three year old sister and newborn me, but my siblings and I have picked up some clues along the way.\u00a0 Particularly from our own moving around as kids. \u00a0My father\u2019s international assignment ended when I was in the second grade and we moved to Seoul only to move back to L.A. the following year (a story for another time!)\u2014we finally ended up in New Jersey, where you can still see the lone Samsung building in Fort Lee from the highway. <\/p>\n

Making new friends and building a community are not easy things to do personally or professionally but I\u2019ve learned that they are crucial in surviving and thriving. \u00a0Unless you\u2019re cast on that fantastically entertaining reality TV show \u201cAlone,\u201d making connections, working together, leaning on each other and paying it forward, not only make the world go round but make us progress and succeed. \u00a0You\u2019d also be surprised what you may learn (and have in common) by having a conversation with someone!<\/p>\n

Ultimately my parents sent me to boarding school in 1998 when Samsung needed my father to return to Seoul permanently. \u00a0There is a funny story my best friend likes to tell where I went around all of orientation asking fellow Asian students if they were Korean. \u00a0Some of these people, Korean or not, are now family to me and for the last two decades, I have felt passionately about contributing to and participating in Asian communities whether that\u2019s the Asian students associations at my alma maters, Asian bar associations for lawyers, or a group of fellow mothers in the neighborhood. \u00a0As my introverted husband likes to remind me, approaching new people or forging new relationships can be frighteningly uncomfortable, but throughout my 39 years of life, time and time again, my communities have provided support, advice and opportunities that I otherwise would never have found.<\/p>\n

As a new-ish working mom post-pandemic, I\u2019m pretty tired. \u00a0But what gets me going every day are the communities that I\u2019ve built personally and professionally. \u00a0Duane Morris is truly a diamond in the rough.\u00a0 \u00a0Where actions speak louder than words, money is put where mouths are, and the Asian lawyers, particularly the partners, invest their time and resources in the Asian community throughout the firm. \u00a0I have often felt alone trying to forge an Asian community at work to show others the benefits of investing in diversity and inclusion, so I\u2019m truly grateful for landing at a place where I\u2019m shown by leadership that our Asian community matters, and guidance, opportunities, or even an ear to hear my thoughts, are just a call or email away!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 By Grace Sur I got on my first airplane right before my \ubc31\uc77c, 100th day birthday, which is historically a big day in Korea as it marks the survival of a baby in a country that endured brutal colonialism and an equally brutal civil war before catapulting to one of the largest economies in … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “What Being Asian American Means to Me”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":490,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[123,154,129,135],"ppma_author":[47],"class_list":["post-217","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","tag-asian-american-and-pacific-islander-month","tag-grace-sur","tag-korea","tag-korean"],"authors":[{"term_id":47,"user_id":490,"is_guest":0,"slug":"dmdandi","display_name":"Duane Morris Diversity and Inclusion","avatar_url":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/diversityandinclusion\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/39\/2020\/10\/dmlogo.jpg","0":null,"1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/diversityandinclusion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/diversityandinclusion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/diversityandinclusion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/diversityandinclusion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/490"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/diversityandinclusion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=217"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/diversityandinclusion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/diversityandinclusion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/diversityandinclusion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/diversityandinclusion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=217"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/diversityandinclusion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}