Name- Se Hoon Kim
Year- 2016
Major- International Relations
Hometown- Bergen County, NJ
This week I had the pleasure to sit down and talk with Se Hoon Kim, an undergrad student here at University of Rochester who is not only a celebrity on our campus but in the media! He recently did a live broadcasted interview on “The Voice of America.” Se Hoon has been proactive in presenting the Tibetan issue to the Rochester community. Tibet is facing political oppression, marginalisation, and exclusion. Since last fall, he has been organizing a group of influential sources from the Tibetan community, such as people in exile, escapees, and scholars to lead peaceful dialogues and engage our community through academic and cultural events. This past winter break Se Hoon visited The Voice of America station in Washington D.C. and was surprised when they asked him to be interviewed the next day. In this video, Se Hoon talks about a past event that he organized to raise awareness of the Tibetan issue and his future plans to engage the community. Check out the video here! http://www.voatibetanenglish.com/media/video/2592439.html
I was curious to know how the students of our school have responded to Se Hoon’s actions and how much of the campus is getting involved. According to Se Hoon, he’s received a lot of participation from different student groups on campus. His mission is to create peaceful dialogue with our community and have one-on-one discussions to come to mutual understandings of the issue, which will require setting aside differences and political ideas. “Not everyone has been supportive of the issue,” says Se Hoon. “I get a diverse amount of reaction, some people are frustrated and some people are really really happy.” However, many students have approached Se Hoon and encouraged him to hold more of these kind of events to further raise awareness. And Se Hoon has no plans of stopping! In fact, he is hosting another event this coming April here on campus that will also be covered by major news and world media! He plans to make it an engaging Tibetan cultural experience, with dances, song performances, costumes, and a performance by our very own Rochester RAAS. He wants this event to represent “inclusivity, openness, and person-to-person dialogue.” Following the performances, there will be an open discussion with a Chinese scholar from the Office of Tibet and the former envoy who was part of the task force sent by the Dalai Lama to Beijing for peacful negoations between China and the Dalai Lama’s coming
One of the most important things Se Hoon has learned is how to deal with people he disagrees with. The key is to be “patient, wise, and respectable” and accept the fact that sometimes you just have to agree to disagree with others. How can we help make a difference? Se Hoon first mentions that we have to accept the fact that there is no perfect society. But whatever cause you are supporting, try to engage people in dialogue through non-violence, cooperation, and respect. He stresses the importance of always questioning not only yourself, but the issues that you are fighting for, and listening to people who disagree with you so that you can find out why. Researching your topic by reading scholarly articles and talking to experts can be a huge way to network and discover new, meaningful information. And the most important thing? Engage in dialogue with those who disagree with you, because you’ll always learn something new.
To read more on the Tibetan issue follow this link: http://:http://chineseculture.about.com/od/minoritiesinchina/i/Tibetissue.htm