Interviewee: Jung Shin
Interviewer: Hadley Murphy
Jung Shin (he/him) is a twenty-four-year-old Colby College alumnus and first-generation Korean. During his early childhood, his family moved from South Korea to Singapore, then to New Zealand, and then Canada before eventually settling in the United States in 2011. Jung shared his perspective on traveling, exposure to new cultures and schools, and how his experiences influenced his view of his Korean heritage. Jung discussed the role of food in his household, highlighting the importance of family dinners and home-cooked food; he and his mother cook his favorite Korean rice cake for his birthday every year. Additionally, Jung faced adversities in his travels, as making connections with peers in a new country and second language is always difficult.
This interview covers topics such as Jung’s early childhood, immigration to the US, global culture exposure, Korean cuisine, and language. Additionally, Jung touches on how the culmination of his early childhood experiences has led him to value and embrace Korean culture as an adult.
I met Jung at Colby College two years ago and our interview was conducted via Zoom to accommodate locational differences, as Jung now lives in Manhattan.
My name is Hadley Murphy, a fourth-year Economics major at Colby College, interested in learning about the ties between family, culture, and food.
Full audio interview with Jung Shin
Jung Shin (he/him) is a twenty-four-year-old Colby College alumnus and first-generation Korean. Jung’s exposure to new cultures through his travels greatly influenced his view of his Korean heritage. In this interview, Jung discusses his early childhood, immigration to the United States, Korean cuisine, and language. Jung emphasizes the significant role that food played in his childhood, highlighting family dinners with his mother’s cooking. At Colby, Jung studied Economics and Data Science in addition to playing on the Men’s Varsity Lacrosse Team. After graduating from Colby in 2021, Jung moved to Manhattan, New York where he currently works in Investment Banking.