Creativity has always been my escape. For a large chunk of my childhood, I essentially grew up in a gas station. My parents came to the states from South Korea and courageously opened their own business as a way to support their new family when I was born. Since I was a toddler, my parents have worked 16+ hours 7 days a week at that store. My way of passing time as a child was to immerse myself into drawing with my portable DVD player playing. Lion King and ballpoint pens that were originally used for check-cashing were my favorite tickets to a world I could create on my own, to take my mind off of the 16+ hours of boredom, and to have fun. When I reached about 8 years old, my mother encouraged me to explore other hobbies and I quickly fell in love with swimming, playing multiple instruments, and took private art lessons. This "escape" I once had for myself was now fostered into a passionate hobby, coping skill, and even a profession. I am so grateful to my mother for guiding my curiosity and encouraging my exploration. As an adult, I'm now a serial hobbyist because I have let go of the fear of trying new things. What's holding me back besides myself? This curiosity and courage I've honed and fostered over the years has applied to multiple aspects of my life, not just hobbies. What is the best that could happen? Despite being a naturally shy person, this courage has allowed me to found and lead Baylor University's first chartered art club, to open my own Korean food delivery business, to become a DJ, and has led me to many other beautiful opportunities. I am confident it will lead me to even more.

Racial and gender disparities have been known to permeate the realm of healthcare in the United States, especially mental healthcare. Despite this broad understanding, it is critical to understand exactly where these disparities stem from and what changes must be specifically constructed to reduce these injustices. Observing the financial disparities among different racial groups in the U.S., one would reasonably predict that racial minorities, compared to White Americans, specifically Black/African Americans and Hispanic Americans, would exhibit higher rates of mental health disorders positively associated with high rates of poverty and poor health. Mechanisms that contribute to racial disparities in mental healthcare surrounding access, quality, and use are provider bias and stereotyping, provider “statistical discrimination,” provider quality and geographic differences, and health insurance differences (McGuide & Miranda, 2008). Research has shown that greater diversity in the mental health workforce, such as increase of racial minority providers, culturally appropriate education of providers, and improvement of access to and quality of care is essential to reducing the racial disparities documented in mental healthcare (McGuide & Miranda, 2008). Studies have also shown that the majority of the mental healthcare workforce is White, and though color itself does not guarantee quality of care, these populations deserve to have the ability to choose accessible providers who make them feel comfortable, respected, and like they don’t have to explain their culture or lifestyle to someone who just doesn’t get it. As a queer Korean American woman, I deserve that too, and I also want to become that bridge for these underserved populations. I want to become the provider I deserve and needed when I was younger. Being a part of this change, on the front lines, is one way I can and want to practically help underserved identities struggling with mental healthcare.