Growing Up at Bedford Village
"I guess we were poor, but I never realized until much later."
I grew up in a small apartment complex called Bedford Village. I lived with my Grandma and Single Father in a two-bedroom apartment on the first floor. I guess we were poor, but I never realized until much later. It was a place full of adventure: tree-climbing, bush exploring, neighborhood adventuring.
My Family and the Bromigos
"My family is an unusually tight-knit family."
The important people in my life are my family and friends. My closest knit friends call themselves the Bromigos. My family is an unusually tight-knit family — my Dad, Byung Jo Son; my step-mom, Yung Hi Son; my sister, Joy Son; my Uncle, Byung Sung Son; my Aunt, Tammy Mi Sook Son; and my two cousins, Joe Son and Jacob Son.
Why Our Family Stayed So Close
"We've lived near each other for our entire lives."
We've lived near each other for our entire lives after my Dad and Uncle immigrated to the United States from Korea. We've done countless activities together — from hanging out nearly every week for dinner, going on beach trips, golfing together, and so much more.
From Banking to Startups to Something That Matters
"I spent the next decade going from company to company searching for my professional home."
I started my career in Investment Banking. I had gotten waitlisted on the resume selection, but at the last minute, someone who had been chosen dropped out and a spot opened up for me to interview. There was one spot left and I was able to receive it. I attribute that timing and luck to God.
Although I received an Analyst-to-Associate promotion offer — a role that is typically reserved for post-MBAs — I decided to leave that world for tech startups. I was fired from that position within the first 6 months. A real blow to the ego.
I spent the next decade going from company to company searching for my professional home. Currently, I work for a Hyperscaler Data Center developer and operator. But that work has allowed me to start my passion project, More Than a Memoir.
MTAM is a platform designed to hold and share the hard-earned wisdom from the lives of people from all walks of life. A way to preserve and honor the legacy created from individuals — privately, with family and friends, or publicly.
How I Rest When Life Gets Heavy
"Strangely enough — working on my passion projects."
Rest and recovery to me looks like dancing, talking with strangers, drinking, smoking, and strangely enough — working on my passion projects.
The Two Girls Who Made Me Feel Alive
"She was the first girl whose voice I could imagine in my mind."
I felt most alive when I fell in love with two girls throughout my life.
The first girl was Sandy, whom I fell in love with in freshman year of high school. She was the first girl whose voice I could imagine in my mind. This was around the time when Facebook first came out. I would rush home after school to check if she had responded to my wall post the day before. And usually she did. I would rush to respond to her reply as quickly as possible, hoping that she would reply back again one more time. She never did, and she also ended up dating one of my friends instead of me, and broke my tiny little Sophomore heart.
The second girl was Helen. I met her in 2019, a year after my first manic bipolar I episode. After the episode, I felt ashamed, powerless, worthless. But Helen, beautiful and witty, talked with me through my episode. It was so therapeutic. Perhaps it was transference, but I fell so deeply for her that I went a bit manic again, oops. I scared her away with my illness, and it broke my tiny little 26 year old heart.
Born Into a First-Generation World
"Information was expensive to source, paths were confusing, and community was dispersed."
My family immigrated from South Korea in the 1980s. I was born into a first-generation world in the United States where information was expensive to source, paths were confusing, and community was dispersed.
Still in My Formative Years
"I am still in my formative years, I suppose."
I am still in my formative years, I suppose. They say a person changes or evolves every 8 years.
Meals, Music, and My Pug Billy
"The ordinary things that made me happiest were meals with loved ones, cuddling with my pug Billy, and going to festivals featuring my favorite EDM artists."
I used to have perfect recall of jokes, but the ordinary things that made me happiest were meals with loved ones, cuddling with my pug Billy, and going to festivals featuring my favorite EDM artists.
Still Building, Still Keeping My Word
"I promised my father when I was 5 that I would purchase him an Oil Tanker Truck."
Currently, I am looking for a way to build wealth so that I can acquire time and gifts for my household. I promised my father when I was 5 that I would purchase him an Oil Tanker Truck. I'm still hopeful that I can write him a check for the value of one, perhaps along with a toy Oil Tanker Truck.
The Coolest Thing a 5-Year-Old Could Think Of
"Oil Tanker Trucks were the coolest thing I could think of when I was 5!"
Oil Tanker Trucks were the coolest thing I could think of when I was 5!
