East to West
It's a beautiful world. Go. Explore.About Me
“We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.”
–T. S. Eliot
East to West is home for my travel writing as well as social and political commentaries. I was inspired to name this blog East to West by two quintessential journeys in my life. The first one was traveling from east to west on my first Semester At Sea voyage in the summer of 2005. My second journey was getting diagnosed with clinical depression and receiving help for it. I’ve suffered from depression almost my entire life, but I never sought treatment until a crippling emotional meltdown in 2006 that lasted several months. One of the remedies I still use to this day to bring myself out of a funk is listening to Christian music. “East to West” is the name of one of my favorite songs from my favorite band, Casting Crowns:
“I know you’ve washed me white/Turned my darkness into light/I need your peace to get me through/To get me through this night/I can’t live by what I feel/But by the truth your word reveals/I’m not holding on to you/But you’re holding on to me/You’re holding on to me…”
I grew up in Baltimore, Maryland, where I had experienced a lot of teasing, bullying, and discrimination as an Asian-American. My life at home was wracked with physical and emotional abuse. Searching for my place in this world has been both daunting and enriching. Since coming out of my depression in 2006 I went on a second Semester At Sea voyage (circumnavigating the globe this time), worked in Kosovo in summer 2010, and have traveled to many places on my own as well. Through traveling (I have been to almost 30 countries so far), I’ve picked up pieces of myself all over the world, like putting together a colorful mosaic. The people I’ve met from all corners of the world have helped heal me and rebuild my life and I only wish I can offer them as much.
I recently graduated with my Master of Arts from The New School’s Graduate Program in International Affairs (GPIA). My areas of specialization are human rights, women’s rights, and genocide studies. I’m happy to announce I’ve started a fulfilling career in research and advocacy even before I finished graduate school. For the first time in my life, I can say I’m happy with the work I do, a career working with NGOs, NPOs, and Christian organizations to bring aid abroad, whether it’s in terms of humanitarian aid or advocacy at home.
I might not go around preaching the Gospel, but everything I do is with the help of God and I want my work to reflect that.
