Jun: Hitting it Out of the Park

No matter how many activities he piles on his plate, senior Jun Park does each and every one with his all, never sacrificing quality. Despite his time-consuming role as Student Council (StuCo) vice president, Park has not wavered in fulfilling his job on the International Student Alliance board, or as a dormitory proctor of Peabody, among his many other responsibilities. Through his involvement on campus, he has expanded his outreach not only to the student body, but to other continents as well.

As the StuCo Vice President, Park works alongside President and senior Rebecca Ju to improve many aspects of life, both large and small, at Exeter. As Park has stepped into this role, he has gotten a bigger and broader picture of the Academy and noted that many issues on campus “happen to go unsaid or unnoticed.”

“What’s important is that I share that bigger picture,” he said. “It gives me a better idea of how students and faculty interact, how the administration and students interact and how faculty interacts with the administration.”

He also stressed that his role helps him understand what students need to do in order to make a change on an administrative level. “I understand what kind of work we need to do and what kind of attitude we need to have to get [messages] across to people who have more experience than us—the faculty and administration—and how to gain their respect,” Park said.

Park has been part of StuCo since his prep year, spending three years on the Budget Committee. He became a dorm representative his upper year, then became class representative for both his lower and upper year. Last spring, however, he felt the need to make even greater change on campus.

The role of VP, he said, is vague. It’s an important role that doesn’t always have set goals and set ways of achieving those goals, which also contributes to the overall flexibility of the job. “I just wanted to leave some mark or some standard on Exeter, but because [the title] is so vague, it also gives people a lot of flexibility, and a lot of influence in regions that you probably won’t expect,” he said.

Ju described Park as a “down to earth, intelligent, hard working, humorous, light hearted and all around great person.” She has worked with him closely in both StuCo and the Academy’s Mock Trial Association, where he acts as an attorney.

“I can always rely on him to do the work,” Ju said. “But at the same time, he’s always there to remind me to lighten up a bit and he’ll always make me laugh when I get too serious.”

Ju also notes that he never loses perspective and is always having fun and enjoying life no matter how stressful it gets. In addition, Ju commended Park’s friendship skills.

“He’s all around a great friend—he’ll listen if I need him to, he’ll give me advice when I don’t know what to do, and he’ll always be there for me to rely on,” she said.

In Mock Trial, Park has found the atmosphere rewarding and appreciates how results are directly affected by the amount of work someone puts in. He has also found that the club has contributed postively to his speaking and presentation skills.

Model United Nations (MUN), a club many would perceive as similar to Mock Trial, has impacted Park in a distinctly different way. Coming from an international background, Park has found MUN to be a way to puncture the “Exeter Bubble.”

“Model United Nations takes me out of the ‘bubble’ to keep me aware of what’s going on in the world and make sure that I form my own opinions about it,” Park said. “It’s important to be an engaged member of the global community.”

To complement MUN, Park serves on the International Student Alliance board (formally International Student Advisory board). According to Park, the board tries to create an international presence on campus and a community for international students. These efforts can take the form of events, policy changes or monitoring how the international community interacts with the rest of the Exeter community.

On a smaller scale, Park has furthered some of the aims of ISA by participating in ESSO Big Sib Little Sib. During his prep year, he was paired with Nathan, a third grader who was adopted from South Korea. The club allowed him to become an “ambassador,” in his words. It gave him the chance to represent Korea to someone who has never really experienced the country before.

Park is a club head of ESSO Microfinance, which distributes loans without interest to people around world. In addition, he is part of the boys’ varsity cycling team, and partcipates actively in West African Drumming. But perhaps what has affected him most on campus is his dorm, Peabody Hall.

As a dormitory proctor, Park has acknowledged others’ perception of Peabody as “nerdy,” or “weird.” But he said that the reputation had been outdated by the time he arrived on campus; to add to the flux, the people around him have continued to grow and change. He added that along with faculty, the proctors and other residents of the dorm, he’s been trying to modify that reputation to better reflect what the dorm is like now.

“We definitely have very different people from whom we had during my prep year,” Park said. “I see myself growing, I see my friends growing and underclassmen growing, together. We’re in a flux. We’re in search for what Peabody’s future is going to be, and how we want to shape that for future generations.”

Park’s dormmates have appreciated his efforts for and his presence in Peabody. Senior Henry LaFond said that Park was a hardworking member of the dorm, but also that he had a fun side—Park can often be found blasting music while working through his Latin and Greek homework.

“He is also one of the Peabodians most involved on campus, being the StuCo VP and a fixture of several other clubs. Jun is the kind of guy who will greet you on the path with a smile, even if he’s not having the greatest day,” LaFond said.

Upper Austin Scronce shared similar sentiments and also stressed that Park was “especially in tune with the E Book” and would never break the rules. Scronce said that his qualities were recognized by all, apparent in his election as StuCo vice president.

“Jun brings an air of light-hearted fun into the dorm. He is able to have fun with everyone in the dorm due to his well-roundedness,” Scronce said. “But his best quality is that he can still become serious and help you out if you need him. Jun is an honest and respectable Peabodian well liked by all.”