2014 Sejong Writing Competition

Essay Winners


  Young Adult Division Senior Division Junior Division
First Samuel Walder
Oak Park, IL
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
essay
Brendan Phillips
Atlanta, GA
12th grade
Marist School
essay
Jason Lee
Naperville, IL
6th grade
homeschooled
essay
Second Erin Connolly
Atlanta, GA
Marist School
essay
Daniel Kedansky
Tucson, AZ
8th grade
Doolen Middle School
essay
Robin Young
Hernando, MS
8th grade
Hutchison School
essay
Third Matthew McGee
Atlanta, GA
Marist School
essay
Darvin Heo
Harrisburg, NC
9th grade
Hickory Ridge High School
essay
Abigail Fonville
Memphis, TN
8th grade
Hutchison School
essay
HM* Jenny (Yejin) Byun
San Diego, CA
University of California, Berkeley
Evangeline Erickson
Tucson, AZ
8th grade
Doolen Middle School
Daria Chudnovsky
Skokie, IL
7th grade
Sabio Academy
Anna Deily
Atlanta, GA
Marist School
Faith Ruppert
Severna Park, MD
12th grade
Severn School
Mikey Hernandez
Romeoville, IL
8th grade
A. Vito Martinez Middle School
Hye Rin Lee
Los Angeles, CA
Williams College
Meredith Selvey
Atlanta, GA
12th grade
Marist School
Emma Lavetter-Keidan
Toledo, OH
8th grade
Maumee Valley Country Day School
Sae-Ryoung Lee
Ithaca, NY
Cornell University

*Honorable Mention - Friend of the Pacific Rim Award

Young adult division

Samuel Walder

young adult division, first place

My name is Sam Walder, and I am a freshman studying computer engineering at the University of Illinois. I enjoy reading, writing, and playing the violin while waiting for my code to compile.

Our Twisted Hero is powerful and absorbing. Something I like most about it is that Yi left his characters with uncertain futures at the end. There is doubt and fear within the uncertainty, but there’s also hope. And that hope which lies within uncertainty can be much more powerful and beautiful than blindly stated optimism. Many authors feel like they have to present conviction in their works, but Yi (and Solzhenitsyn, whose book I compared to Our Twisted Hero) knew that the truth can be serrated and ugly. Yi used his full talent to present the truth, and that’s what makes his work so special.

Writing for this competition allowed me to think deeply about not only the books, but also about their relationships with history and the lives of the authors. I thank the Sejong Cultural Society for creating this opportunity, which gave me access to a side of history and literature which I would not have otherwise explored. I would also like to thank Dr. Dan Gleason, my teacher who introduced me to this competition last year.

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Erin Connolly

young adult division, second place

I am a senior, about to graduate Marist School, and next year, I will be attending Dartmouth College. I like to run, read, and spend time with friends and family. My family, especially my two older siblings, already at college and beyond, are my role models that I look to for guidance. I really enjoyed reading and learning more about Korean culture, especially as one of my best friends is South Korean. Writing an essay connecting Our Twisted Hero to what's happening today in Egypt was really interesting as well and makes me want to learn more about it. I hope that next year I will continue to learn about other cultures in my studies and in my life, maybe even getting a chance to study abroad.

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Matthew McGee

young adult division, third place

My name is Matt McGee, and I am a senior at Marist High School in Atlanta, Georgia. I play baseball and football and have a passion for the outdoors. Having spent 5 years living in Singapore and 2 years living in Hong Kong, I was very excited when our english teacher told us we would read and write about South Korean Culture. I have always been a huge believer in the beauty and necesity of diversity and enjoy learning about all the different cultural flavors the world has to offer. Although I have never been to South Korea, I love to travel and hope to visit sometime. I will be attending Georgia Tech next year and hope to study mechanical engineering.

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Jenny Byun

young adult division, honorable mention

My name is Jenny Byun, and I am soon graduating from the University of California, Berkeley with a double major in Political Science and Integrative Biology. I love to read, write, draw, and go on adventures with a friend in tow and a camera in hand. My dream is to become a writer/director of an original feature film (hopefully multiple!) but if that doesn't pan out, I have many other things I want to accomplish in my lifetime. My personal heroes are all the great authors and filmmakers who made my childhood so enjoyable with their captivating stories. I really enjoyed reading Our Twisted Hero for this competition because it raised interesting questions about the nature of politics. I look forward to reading more Korean literary works in the future!

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Hye Rin Lee

young adult division, honorable mention

My name is Hye Rin Lee (Lily) and I am a freshman at Williams College. I plan to major in Sociology and attend law school in the future. I was born in South Korea and immigrated to the U.S. when I was three years old. Growing up in Los Angeles as a Korean-American has taught me important cultural lessons for both sides of my identity. Thanks to my mother who told me about this competition, I was able to read Yi Mun-yol’s Our Twisted Hero and learn more about Korean literature, human nature, and valuable life lessons. I enjoy playing basketball and golf, watching movies, and public speaking. If I could pursue any career I want, I would become a film director and/or screenwriter.

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Sae-Ryoung Lee

young adult division, honorable mention

My name is Sae-Ryoung Lee, and I'm a graduating senior at Cornell University, NY. Although I'm a biology major, I love to write and sharpen my writing skills by looking for many writing opportunities, including this essay competition held by Sejong cultural society. As far as my future plans are concerned, I would like to combine my interest in biology and writing and serve as a bridge between the academia and the public audience.

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Senior division

Brendan Phillips

senior division, first place

​My name is Brendan Phillips and I am a senior at Marist School in Atlanta, GA. I plan to attend either Georgia Institute of Technology or Stanford University to study Chemical Engineering.

I'm a very math/science person, have always disliked writing, and am about the furthest thing that you can find from a South Korean, except for my love of kimchi. Needless to say, when my World Literature teacher said we were going to write a paper for a South Korean writing competition, I was a little surprised. I didn't think I would be able to relate to any of the themes in Our Twisted Hero; after reading it, however, and seeing one of my favorite books in the prompt for the essay, I thought the assignment was a little more manageable. I found myself actually enjoying reading and writing about such a rich culture.

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Faith Ruppert

senior division, honorable mention

My name is Faith Ruppert. I was born on March 18, 1996, in Tokyo, Japan, to an American father and an Indonesian mother. I currently live in Severna Park, and attend Severn School as a senior. I will study at either the University of Maryland or Colgate University this fall. I intend to work as a trial attorney in the future, and to eventually campaign as a public servant. However, I greatly enjoy writing, and in an ideal world I would make a living as a novelist. Currently I am writing a novel, which will be completed in May of 2014. Korean culture and Asian culture in general has always been a source of fascination to me, and entering this contest was a another excuse to explore Asian literature during English class.

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Junior division

Jason Lee

junior division, first place

My name is Jason Lee and I am currently in 6th grade. I am homeschooled and would like to thank my amazing teacher, who is also my mom, for encouraging me to participate in this contest. I love to write, play baseball, and create short “Nerf Gun” movies with my brothers and friends. I have also played the piano since I was four; once, I was broadcast live on Chicago’s 98.7 WFMT classical station for the 2012 Schubertiade. My plan for the future is to be a professional pianist, and either perform around the world or teach at a music school just like my father, who is an excellent pianist himself. Or perhaps I will be a writer like my mom. Or both!

I have so many personal heroes but if I had to choose one, it would be Lang Lang. He is also a pianist, and he has showed me how to persevere under struggle and stress. Now he is one of the top pianists in the world.

I would like to thank all who have supported me in this competition. I would also like to thank the Sejong Cultural Society, and I am grateful to be recognized for my essay.

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Daria Chudnovsky

junior division, honorable mention

My name is Daria Chudnovsky. I am a 7th grader at Old Orchard Junior High School. My English teacher is Ms. Eisenstein from Sabio Academy. I enjoy playing violin, running, and studying classic and contemporary literature.

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Mikey Hernandez

junior division, honorable mention

My name is Mikey Hernandez and I am an 8th grader at AVM middle school in the original hometown, Romeoville, IL. I'm a huge fan of the Southsiders and have been a successful baseball player, too. I play for a travel team and my school team with my favorite coaches, Mr. House and Mr. Mcvey, and one day, I hope to make the big leagues and represent the 'ville and make everyone proud. I also like to cook, and longboard with my brother, Alan, and my friends Chris Kerwin and Kiki Kolielat, the former who also won a contest introduced to us by our language arts teacher, Mrs. Streit. Being an honorable mention in this contest meant a lot to me and taught me about different cultures folk takes. Some of my idols are my 4th grade teacher, Mr. Balsey, my favorite baseball player Dustin Pedroia, and my favorite artists, Malcolm McCormick, Jermaine Cole, and Chancelor Bennett, whose songs teach me valuable lessons.

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Emma Lavetter-Keidan

junior division, honorable mention

My name is Emma Lavetter-Keidan and I am currently in the eighth grade. I read the newspaper as a ritual, play basketball, and am an avid writer. I have always been extremely curios about current events, people, and the world around me. Being able to truly understand the culture and morals of the Korean's when reading these folktales is what appealed to me most about this competition. Though these stories were written many decades ago, you can still see their values reflected today. I can only hope that someday I will be able to influence the world in a way that will transcend generations just as these folktales have done.

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