Hello, blogging world.
This isn’t my first time writing a blog post, and yet I’m still pretty nervous about it. Maybe it’s because I know that there will definitely be at least SOMEONE reading this very post (fellow Inside ‘Dores writers?)… And since I’ll be blogging for the Insides ‘Dores for a while, I thought it would be nice to at least introduce myself a bit and let you know what kind of person this new blogger is.
First things first. My name’s Bonnie Bo Yeon Ihn. Yes, that’s a rather long name, which includes my English name and my official Korean name. Speaking of which, I was born in Seoul, Korea, which is about 14-16 hours by flight from Nashville. Although I was born in Korea and both of my parents are Korean, my family lived in Shanghai, China since I was three years old. During my time in Shanghai, I went to an American/International school from kindergarten all the way to senior year of high school. Hopefully by now you can feel my dilemma when it comes to answering the question, “Where are you from?” I call both Seoul and Shanghai to be my home. :)
Fun fact: I am indeed trilingual, although Chinese is my weakest language of the three.
Moving to Nashville was a huge change for me, mainly because it meant moving a whole continent away from home, away from parents, and living in an environment that was completely different from Shanghai (which consisted of bad polluted air, beautiful city lights, and lots of Asian food). While the language barrier was not an issue for me, the first few months were very strange because Vanderbilt University had very few international students on campus – in a class of about twenty people, I would often be the only international student. But I have grown to love Vanderbilt for the vibrant population of unique students and the friends I have had the chance to meet. Although I do get really homesick sometimes, the beautiful campus, great professors, and my friends have really made my first year in Vandy great so far.
I am currently a sophomore in Peabody College, planning to study Child Development and also Psychology from the College of Arts and Science. Although I am not pre-med like the majority of the Vanderbilt students here, I hope to be either a counselor or a speech-language pathologist who will work in a hospital setting.
Besides writing blog posts, I am involved in the Susan Gray School as a volunteer (can’t get enough of cute children), Alpha Phi Omega – a co-ed service fraternity, KUSA (cultural organization for Korean and Korean-American students), and Professor Amy Needham’s Infant Learning Lab. During my free time, I like to go out and eat good food (Taste of Nashville!), chill with my friends, and listen to music while I take a walk around the campus. My favorite TV shows are Big Bang Theory and Modern Family, and I never get sick of the classic Disney movies..
Anyway, I think that is enough about me now. Hopefully you have at least a vague sense of who I am and will read more about my Vanderbilt life in the future..
Toodles!
Bonnie