Meet Grace Jeoung
Class of 2009
- Artist
- Musician
- Missionary
- International
- Traveler
“I started out in art by designing typographic letters, adding special artistic elements to them. I eventually realized that I love art in general, and that brought me to be a graphic design major here at SBU. Now I can see how what I have done artistically in the past ties directly to what I do now graphic design. I enjoy designing posters, especially for the shows put on by the SBU Theatre Department. Photography and graphic design allow me to participate in The Omnibus here on campus.
I started to play the violin in second grade. I also learned how to play the piano. Now though, I mainly play the violin, and I used to be a part of the SBU Symphonic Orchestra, and I hope to be in the future. I also play violin at my church here in town every Wednesday night. Playing the violin gives me a different sense of accomplishment and expression than art and graphic design.
I was born in South Korea and left as a missionary kid to Indonesia when I was 5 years old. Being a missionary kid has dramatically shaped the way I view missions and the world. Since second grade, my family has toured small churches around Indonesia, and I in traveling with them, I have performed violin. I learned how to interact with Indonesians.
Going to a boarding school in Indonesia, I got to learn how to culturally interact with international students within the school. I mostly learned about American culture by living with American missionaries as my dorm parents. At boarding school, I learned how to speak English; living in Indonesia I learned how to speak Indonesian, and being a child of Korean parents, I learned how to speak Korean. Currently being at SBU, I enjoy interacting with people from a different culture and learn their language and their culture. I am actually teaching Korean to a few Intercultural Studies girls right now.
Having experiences in different cultures and learning about them has given me a desire to be exposed to more cultures and places. I love to travel; not only internationally, but also just within the United States. When I came to America and SBU, because of my various cultural experiences, there was only a small culture shock. Over breaks I try to go home with friends from different places. During Missions Week in Chapel when I heard about all of the places around the world SBU is going for missions, I realized that I desire to travel more in the future. So far, I’ve traveled to Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, Chicago, New York, Washington D.C., Virginia, New Jersey, Maryland, and Tennessee.”
