In The Signal’s editorial discussions about who would be our pick for person of the year, Grace Lee was ahead of the pack. I personally worked with Lee while she was a member of the Student Government Association, and was impressed with her vision of making a better campus for Georgia State. Lee was always warm, sincere and approachable.
When I had the pleasure of interviewing Lee for being chosen as our person of the year, I knew immediately we had made the right decision. Lee is the real McCoy. She is a woman that uses her compassion, Faith and mistakes as a roadmap in her own pursuit of happiness.
The world would be a better place with more Grace Lees in it. For every life she has touched here in the Georgia State community, I know she will touch many more in the global community. Thank you, Grace, for making Georgia State a friendlier campus.
-Terah Boyd, Arts & Living Editor
During her senior year of high school, while attending a small Christian school near Jonesboro, Grace Lee didn’t think she was cut out for college. The idea of attending a large university was simply terrifying.
“I wasn’t really excited about college, and I was really scared about the peer pressure that I was going to face,” Lee said. “I have always grown up in a private Christian school so I felt like I was really sheltered in this little bubble. And you always hear about people in college—them changing—and I was scared that that was going to happen to me because I was so sheltered.”
Later, in her high school senior year, Lee decided to apply to college—but Georgia State was not even a prospect.
“So I wanted to go to UGA because my best friend was going there,” Lee said.
Only applying to the University of Georgia, Lee found major disappointment after receiving her high school diploma.
“I got denied (from UGA
) after I graduated from high school,” Lee said. “So I was a graduated senior, still didn’t know where I was going.”
Her first visit to Georgia State was during INCEPT, and Lee said it was very exciting.
“I really fell in love with Georgia State, it was just something, I can’t explain it to you, but just the presence and the environment, this is where I want to be,” Lee said. “And I do not regret my decision at all. I’m really thankful that I didn’t get accepted to UGA.”
Although Lee was excited about becoming a Panther, she was still concerned about the challenges her character would face at a big university downtown.
“Before coming to college you have that stereotype or you have this idea that college life is just to be able to be cooler or to be popular, have a presence on campus, you have to be part of Greek life, you have to be a cheerleader, be part of the football team, you have to fit this mold of what a college student looks like,” Lee said.
Aside from the stereotypes Lee feared, the size of Georgia State was also intimidating.
“It was scary; I mean I graduated with 72 seniors, going from that to the second largest school in Georgia was overwhelming. I think another thing is I had never lived on campus…I still commute from Jonesboro.”
Lee said that being a commuter student has its challenges, but her family is an important part of her life and support.
“My parents are divorced. I’ve been raised by a single parent, my mom. She’s been my rock since I was like four years old. She has definitely done a lot for me and my sister and sacrificed so much,” she said.
Being a commuter student had its disadvantages as well. Lee was worried that driving to campus would keep her from having the full college experience. During her freshman year, Lee stayed on campus after class and got involved in programs to try and give her college experience a chance.
“I always made sure to stay on campus to attend events, to get involved with organizations because I didn’t want me living off campus to hinder me from getting the full college experience,” she said.
Lee started getting involved on campus, joining the SGA and doing tours at the Georgia State welcome center. She decided to apply to the INCEPT program for incoming students. It was ultimately a humbling experience.
“I didn’t get INCEPT,” Lee said. “Everyone was like “Grace, you’re going to be an awesome INCEPT-er”, but I didn’t get it because I wasn’t prepared for the interview.”
Lee said her lack of preparation and poor attitude taught her some valuable lessons.
“I came in with this really high horse attitude like cocky, I’m going to get this, I already have it in the bag,” she said. “That’s why I tell a lot of people doors close for a reason. When one door closes another door of opportunity opens. And because I didn’t do INCEPT I was able to go to China.”
Her study abroad trip to Beijing and Shanghai in 2010 taught her a few valuable lessons as well.
“It was a cultural experience because before going to China, you hear so much about the Chinese society, that they are really closed minded, that they are not open to Americans and they are kind of cold,” she said.
On her last day in Shanghai, Lee was pick pocketed. The thieves made off with her passport, driver’s license, debit card and cash. Lee credited the generosity of the Chinese people with her experience becoming a positive one.
“I had to grow up really quickly in that [situation]. I had to stay in China for extra days without my group…it just taught me that you have to be totally prepared for the unexpected, which I was totally not,” she said. “It was really with the help of a graduate assistant down there and really the college I was staying at that really showed me Southern hospitality to a T, which is so interesting because down south you always think you will experience it here.”
Lee said she would not trade that experience for anything because of what she learned.
She said she also wants to travel to learn more about her own culture. Lee is a first generation American, so connecting with her Korean heritage is something very important to her.
“I feel like I really haven’t been rooted into my Korean culture, I can barely speak Korean and I’m not really involved with the Korean community.” she said.
Traveling for study abroad and missions trips is something very important to Lee that she hopes to continue through out her life. She said a mission trip to Jamaica really changed her perspective.
“When I went there I really thought I would be helping them out, but they helped me—gave me this life’s perspective,” she said. “We are just in this bubble here in the American society, so consumed in our own lives, being selfish with materialistic things. There is much bigger things and much bigger values to care about. It really helped show me that there is much more to life than just me.”
Lee hopes to go to South Africa, South America and Australia for other mission trips.
Lee’s faith is a motivating in her daily life, but said being a good Christian is more than telling others about your faith.
“What I realize is that it is not through words that you can really make an impact, but through just your actions and being there for people,” she said. “Being present. That’s the best thing, being available to people. I feel like a lot of people are turned down by religion and faith and so many different things in our society, but I think that everyone is the same and everyone just wants to be loved, just wants to be heard.”
Lee said her not only motivates her to help others, but to be brave in her own pursuits and finding a way to have the whole college experience and being herself at the same time.
“My faith really helped solidify me before hand, where I was so scared of the unknown,” she said. “But my college experience has taught me that you have to face your fears you have to be courageous, because that one thing I was scared of the most is one of the proudest moments: not winning homecoming queen or anything else, it’s being able to stay true to who I am. I’m not here saying I’m a perfect person. I’ve failed so many times and made mistakes, but it’s not about that.”
Although Lee continues on at the university working full-time in the International Student and Scholar Services office, she said that for her journey to continue she needs to step away from college, for now.
“For the longest time, Georgia State has been my passion and my life, but I need to step away from it. I need to be able to figure out some things about me,” she said.
Lee is looking into programs like Fulbright, Peace Corps and mission programs for her to learn more about herself and help others.
“I have my whole life to get my masters,” she said. “That million dollar question is what are you going to do after graduation. Like there is so much pressure for people. Society is telling you that if you don’t have a job than you’re a loser. “
Although starting the next chapter of her life might be as scary as starting college, Lee said she is ready.
“You’re always going to have those fears at the beginning, but I’m so ready to embrace it. I’m so ready to embrace the unknown. That’s why I’m so excited to do Peace Corps and Fulbright…you have to put yourself out there and not be afraid to go for what you want,” she said.
Looking back, Lee said her journey at Georgia State has been a fantastic one: although there were some unexpected turns, Lee is happy with the lessons she has learned.
“I didn’t think that any of this was possible,” she said. “I mean, I was really really scared of college. There’s things that you’re not going to expect to happen. But you just take one step at a time. Everything has been a blessing.”
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