Our Hero…
William
Min
a lifetime teacher and a friend to many...
By Olivia Cha (15)
Anne Frank once said, “No one has ever become poor by giving”. What is important is not what you accomplish, but what you have selflessly given to others. Growing up, I struggled with finding something I could feel passionate about. Without any intense desire for anything, my actions were not at their best, lacking the meaningful purpose I wanted to fulfill in life. I grew up fully exposed to the Los Angeles community, being immersed with lots of wonderful people with many years in the workforce. My father, a lawyer, allowed me to gain a better understanding of our Korean American community. He introduced me to individuals who have advocated for our community and led meaningful lives, with their passion for others driving them.
The one person who had the most influential impact on my life is Mr. William Min. At the time, I had a lot of activities I was interested in. However, even when I enjoyed or excelled at them, there were none that had my extreme dedication and commitment. Although I was aware of Mr. Min’s accomplishments and acts of service to our Korean American community, I never realized how much of an impact he had until I grew older. I learned that the meaning of life is serving others. He has been involved in my life since the day I was born. Our families were always meeting, whether it was for celebrations or community events. It took me years to understand and take into full account the meaning of Mr. Min’s accomplishments. They had much more meaning than wanting fame or recognition.
Mr. Min’s accomplishments were from his commitment to serving and giving back to his community out of love. He did not expect anything in return, but his actions were the reason so many others felt uplifted. Hence, I realized that my hero has been present in my entire life. Recently, I had the opportunity to interview him for a project. I asked him several questions about his life and his work, gaining a better understanding of who he is and where he came from. It was essential for me to understand how this amazing and honorable person came to be.
William Min was first associated with my family as my father’s mentor before he became my own. He came to the United States at the age of 15 as the son of the first Korean Consul General to Los Angeles. He was a schoolteacher for more than a decade until he became a criminal defense lawyer. He spent 40 years dedicating his life to serving the Korean American community and served as a board member of many organizations. Mr. Min and other Korean American leaders had the first school in the LAUSD School District to be named after a Korean American. It was named ‘Charles H. Kim Elementary School’. He worked towards expanding Korean dual-language learning in public schools and also wanted to issue a digital version of the Korean textbook for students. He was highly praised for his gracious actions given to his community. Mr. Min was the first overseas awardee of The Grand Legal Award from the Republic of Korea to promote human rights efforts in the judicial world.
Mr. Min has dedicated his life to the community. Able and willing to stand up for a community that faced prejudice and discrimination, Mr. Min stood bravely to do what he was passionate about. He has taught me the importance of the passion to give back to my community and that by spending time with my community, it also widens my perspective of the world. With passion, people are able to meet their challenges head on.
Now, after learning from Mr. Min, I am going to follow an ambitious path in order to find my passion. Passion can give one motivation to have new experiences, ultimately leading to fulfillment. Like Mr. Min, I do not want to allow external factors to control me. I want to dedicate my life in order to give back to other people who have given me great experiences. Mr. Min is a dear mentor I am extremely grateful for. His resilience and passion have impacted lots of young individuals who will, themselves, bring positive changes to our society. He will go down in the history of the Korean American community in Los Angeles as a legend and a hero to many others, like myself, who will rise to advocate for their passions.
