Empower House Refugee Participant Interview II

Questions and Answers with Jonathan (Alias)

Q1.  What is your goal in participating in Empower House?

 

I want to study in college.  I wanted to go to college when I was still living in North Korea, but there was nothing I could do then because my family could hardly make a living each day.  I decided to participate in Empower House because it seemed possible now in America.

Q2. What motivated you to participate in Empower House?

 

When I saw my friends go off to study in college, I envied them.  As I learned English, I started to think that I could also go on to college to study.  And I wanted to learn more in college.  That is why I applied to participate in Empower House.

Q3. What are some of the career paths that you would like to pursue?

 

This is a difficult question… Because English is the main language here, learning English is the first thing on my mind right now, butonce I get a good handle on English, I would like to study societal laws.

Q4. Final words?

 

I am grateful to ENoK and others for their care and love for the North Korean refugees even though there are only a handful of North Koreans right now in America.

If it weren’t for organizations like ENoK, young North Koreans including myself would have been limited to dangerous and menial work in this unfamiliar country with a different language and culture, much

less ever dream of pursuing higher studies.  In this regard, this program does not only provide us with a shelter and food, but also gives us a chance to hope for a better future.

We all have dreams.  Thanks to this program, we can now study, and study we will do with the vision to help those who are even less fortunate and contribute toward making the world a better place.  I am sure other North Korean friends share this vision.

If someone who never had a chance to dream can suddenly study with such a vision, though he or she may begin at the bottom, the opportunity itself is an invaluable product of many people’s care and work.  And thanks to such care and love, we will also change.

When Empower House begins, I will study hard, and I would like to thank everyone and organizations like ENoK!

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