Park uses her unique experience as inspiration to help others with similar backgrounds.
Yeieun Park
Yeieun Park

Moving alone from one country to another is no easy feat. But first-year MPP student Yeieun Park achieved it when she traveled from Seoul to the United States at 13 to pursue opportunities not available to her native South Korea.

When Park arrived in America, she first landed in Kentucky where she lived in a small school, and then moved to Washington State. She began attending high school at which an advisor encouraged her to engage in her education under her student visa. Balancing school and her immigration status proved to be difficult, and Park eventually stopped attending her classes.

“I was by myself, and I wasn’t financially stable,” explains Park, adding that she constantly worked on her immigration status while moving from home to home. “Even if I really wanted to do something, I felt trapped.”

Park later enrolled in a community college and transferred to a four-year university. After facing some challenges adjusting to the school program, Park decided to join the army, hoping that doing so would help her navigate the uncertainty of her immigration status and provide professional guidance.

Because Park was proficient in Korean, she was recruited to participate in MAVNI (Military Accessories Vital to National Interest), an Army pilot program that enlisted people with expertise in critical languages. During her training, Park got her U.S. citizenship.

“Now I could go back and study what I wanted,” Park says. “I realized I needed the education.” She attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she studied communications.

Unsure of what was in store after graduation, Park attended a job fair where she met Alyssa Szynal, associate director of recruitment operations and analytics at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy, who encouraged her to apply there.

“I talked to her for an hour just standing there,” Park recalls. “She was the first person to say she was proud of me. Right there was when I wanted to apply to Harris.”

Park applied during Early Action and was put on the waitlist. A few months later, she received a call from Szynal informing her that she had been accepted to Harris.

“It was March 31, the day before April Fool’s Day. I still remember the feeling,” Park says. “I was outside the library at school, and I kept asking Alyssa if this was a joke. I couldn’t believe it until I saw my acceptance letter in my email.”

After accepting her offer, Park was eager to join the Harris community. She enrolled in a number of pre-orientation programs including Jumpstart, a two-week customized program designed for students who have a limited quantitative background.

“I made a lot of friends there, doing math together,” Park says. “It helped me bond with [many] people. Some of my really good friends are from Jumpstart.”

When the school year started, Park joined the Harris Student Government as the Academic Committee MPP Representative. She also became a research assistant for the BIP Lab, where she implements field studies that evaluate how early learning development can affect a child’s academic performance.

With plenty of opportunities to explore her interests, Park says that being a part of the Harris community has encouraged her to use her unique experiences to make important and positive changes.

“In my life, I’ve never felt like I belonged anywhere. At Harris, I really appreciate that people make you feel like you belong,” Park says. “I want to end up somewhere [that needs] me, not just anyone, to do good work. And now I know I am capable of making an impact.”