First Published Essay for Dillon International

Earlier this year I was asked to write my story for my adoption agency here in America. They began a blog for their website that tells and shows what they do for their adoptees. This was what I submitted and was published on their blog.




 Every child that is adopted goes through a hard time. Whether it is the “normal” coming of age difficulties or whether it is difficulties that come with our adoption because we don’t know how to properly deal with it. I went through a long period of time where I did not know how to really get by. I was going through an identity crisis and I felt completely alone. Throughout my whole life I felt like my physical appearance did not match my mind and how I felt about myself.
During one of the lowest points in my life I began attending Dillon’s Discovery Days. It was for other adoptees that were just like me. Adoptees that wanted to meet other adoptees

and create lasting friendships. The first year I ever attended Discovery Days was in 2007. It was the week that I was supposed to go to Korea to meet my birth mother. It was a very hard time for me, but that decision to go was one of the best decisions of my life. The people that I met there are still people that I talk to today. The adults that were there watching over us while we were there were adoptees just like us and they shared their stories, the experiences and they showed me that all of us have our ups and downs. It was only natural for us to have our ups and downs, but that we would be okay. That our experiences would make us stronger people. It was at that moment that I decided that I would become a person just like those adults. I would become a friend to other adoptees and younger adoptee children. Become a role model for them just at the adults had been for me.

Since 2007, my life has completely changed. I have created so many friendships with other adoptees and have been able to see them change and become wonderful people. It only happens one week of the semester, where we are all together at the camps. However that week is the best week of my life. I look forward to it every year. The children that attend Korean Heritage Camp, I have seen them grow up for the past 7 years. I feel like they’re my own brothers and sisters. I've seen them grow from the small little four and five year olds who feel like they’re life is over when game time is over, to young teenagers who are starting to become counselors for the camp. Making their own difference in their campers lives. That feeling is one of the most rewarding experiences and I thank Dillon for that. 

In 2013, I found out that through Dillon and Easter Social Welfare Society I could participate in a scholarship program to attend a Korean University; learn Korean language and volunteer with the children at Eastern. Luckily, I was one of the 11 applicants that I was selected to participate. The other adoptees were not only from America, but were also from Australia. We were all from different parts of the world and prior to meeting in Korea, we hadn't met each other before. It was a very interesting experience to be able to meet other adoptees and see that not all of us have the same experience. Prior to this trip I believed that we all had a good experience with our adoption and our families, however I learned that it wasn't always the case. It opened my eyes to adoption and adoptees in so many different ways. I realized that I wanted to speak out more about my adoption story and meet other adoptees.  I used to be shy and closed off to the world, to my friends and sometimes even to my family.
Through the different programs that Dillon offers along with Easter Social Welfare Society I realized that through all of my different experiences and feelings of adoption, I’m not alone. I was never alone in the battle. I found by meeting other adoptees that not all of us take the opportunities that their adoption agencies offer and I’m thankful that I am able to participate in the different camps Dillon has. If I hadn't, I wouldn't have been able to meet all of the people I have, learned more about myself the way I have, or realized that I’m called to do more for the adoptee community. Dillon doesn't want any adoptee to go through things alone and neither do I.