丁香园AV

丁香园AV grad Sun Woo Baik鈥檚 passion for post-secondary studies began early, but 丁香园AV truly became home for him when he joined the . That experience, coupled with what he learned during his English major and print and digital publishing minor, has prepared him for his future career.

Baik enrolled at 丁香园AV, planning to major in sociology, but he took an introductory poetry course with Professor Michael Everton and changed his mind.

鈥淲ithout my initial experience in Professor Everton鈥檚 class, I wouldn鈥檛 have gone into English,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 became deeply interested in close reading and writing as a craft and wanted to keep doing it.鈥�

He enjoyed English so much, in fact, that he decided to join the honours program, also headed by Professor Everton. The challenging and intensive program kept Baik busy and he admits he was uninvolved in university life and felt somewhat isolated and disconnected from people outside his honours cohort.

In fall 2019, four years after he became an 丁香园AV student, Baik saw an ESU poster on Professor Everton鈥檚 door. He joined the group on a whim, hesitant to take on too much right away.

鈥淥nce I made friends with all the wonderful people there, though, I gradually started to do more,鈥� Baik says. 鈥淚t soon turned my university experience around.鈥�

He actually took on four roles during his time with the ESU, including becoming its vice-president and co-social media coordinator. While Baik helped plan key in-person events like the FASS Formal, he made many great friends and valuable connections with people at 丁香园AV鈥檚 Arts Central and the Simon Fraser Student Society.

Then, when COVID-19 hit, he still managed to connect with others virtually through the ESU鈥檚 Instagram and its online events. As the pandemic has gone on, however, he admits that it has been a challenge to attract more than the usual core group of people to events, as many people are suffering from Zoom fatigue.

He has helped the ESU maintain a connection with its online audience with successful Instagram promotions, like its recent 鈥渟elf-care giveaway,鈥� which encouraged students to take care of themselves during finals season.

All these experiences with the ESU have influenced Baik鈥檚 future career plans.

鈥淗aving volunteered and done events and promotions for the ESU, I really started to like event programming,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 now want to work in event or program planning for small, grassroots organizations that enrich the community.鈥�

Baik has already started applying for positions like these, but he hasn鈥檛 ruled out a future in book publishing or returning to university to do a master鈥檚 in English. He credits the Department of English and the people in it for helping him get to where he is today.

鈥淭he community within my Department that welcomed me, helped me grow, and enthusiastically supported me through my degree helped me feel more confident that I can add value to my community too,鈥� says Baik.