Kathy (Hyunkyung) Lee is a fourth year Doctor of Pharmacy student at Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (MCPHS) in Boston, MA. She has been involved in KSEA since 2012. She first volunteered for NMSC (National Math Science Competition) at Texas A&M University where she first learned about KSEA. She started to get more involved in KSEA as she participated in the 2013 YGTLC in San Francisco. She is the founder of the MCPHS KSEA YG group with her friends and also created a KSEA recognized conference, GBS (Greater Boston Symposium) to promote KSEA within local members of Boston. Catrina Son (MCPHS) of YG National Board interviewed Kathy to learn about her journey in KSEA and her experiences in developing a successful YG Group at her institution.
Hi, Kathy! Thank you for your time today. Would you briefly introduce yourself to the people who are reading this?
Hi, my name is Kathy Lee. Currently, I am located in Boston, MA, studying Doctorate of Pharmacy at MCPHS as a fourth-year student. Thanks for inviting me today.
I am very glad to hear of your journey in KSEA as I attend the same school and heard about your dedication to the YG group. Can you tell us about how you started your journey with KSEA?
Sure. My first experience of KSEA was participating in the NMSC (National Math Science Competition) at Texas A&M. Then, I went to Ygnite 2012 in San Francisco.
How was your experience at your first YGTLC (Ygnite) in San Francisco?
For me, Ygnite was a turning point to meet numerous motivated people. Back then, I was a college student and hadn’t had a chance to meet many professional people sharing similar background cultures. Even after the conference, I kept the inspiration and positive motivation to improve.
After the experience, you decided to start a KSEA YG group at MCPHS. Why and how did you start the group?
First and foremost, I wanted to share the experience I was privileged to have at the Ygnite. Though our school has many Korean associated organizations, KSEA has a unique niche for the students related to STEM fields. As I met and formed networks with young professionals at the conference, I want others to also experience professional networking.
Did you face any difficulties or hardships while you were finding the YG group?
Because Ygnite is more focused on 1.5 generation and 2nd generation Korean Americans, it was different at my school where there were more people from Korea who were considered 1st generation. In the beginning, I was concerned about the potential gap between our school and the YG group.
Do you think the gap has been resolved compared to the beginning?
Actually, it wasn’t as much of a problem as what we expected from the beginning. The YG group has grown with their own culture and mingled with the KSEA culture as the members participated in GBS (Greater Boston Symposium) and Ygnite.
Do you have any tips or advice for the current pandemic situation as it is difficult for the YG groups to continue promotion events or engaging members?
It is a difficult situation especially with the limited access to people to engage. Please utilize school resources. Reach out to the school and promote your organization through the school homepage or email serves. Until you ask around for the resources, you will not know how many they are out there. Also, don’t be afraid to ask your alumni. We may not have the answers right away; however, we may be able to connect you with appropriate people.
Those are really good inputs. I will make sure to come back to you with any questions. Lastly, would you mind briefly explaining what GBS is and the reason why you established it?
GBS stands for Greater Boston Symposium. Though Ygnite is a great conference to join, it could seem too professional for students who haven’t been to a conference. Therefore, we wanted to provide a similar experience to our friends in a participant-friendly setting. Also, the topics that are discussed in GBS focus on topics based on the student’s ages and interests. One thing I hope to happen in the future at GBS is diversified students with different professional fields. Currently, it is more focused on the pharmacy field due to the majority of students being from pharmacy schools.
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