To commemorate the 20th Anniversary of the Los Angeles Riots, the Anti-Defamation League gathered community and civil rights leaders to issue a Joint Statement of Unity.

Grand Prize ($1000): You Mee Kim (read full essay here)








Excellence ($500): Hansoo Kim, Paige Pelonis, Sasha Jones, Yan Jiang








Outstanding ($300): Adeney Zo, Allison Ko, Daw Ohnmar Kyi, Havilah Steinman, Jane Fernandez, Norma Murguia, Seok Hyun Lee, Soffi Faroqi








Distinctions ($200): Andrew Yoo, Brandon Lee, Caleb Oh, Eunice Choi, Hyun Mun Chun, Jan Redondo, Melvin Villaver, Nicole Zulca, Paula Dorado, Samaira Sirajee, Stephanie Kim, Violeta Calderon, Yadira Ojeda





Honorable Mentions ($100): Brian Hendershot, Brian Jung, Bryanna Kolpak, Eric Duardo, Grace Kim, Hannah Choi, Janice Uhm, Jina Yoo, Jovana Benoso, Kathyann Kim, Kevin Tang, Nicholas Cho, Rachel Jun, Ricky Benjamin, Rosie Baek, Sammie Lee, Tamanna Khan, Tiffany Lee, Vincent Lee, Yancy Luna, Yegina Whang

I was in a state of shock when I first received my roommate information. “Yu Ling Chan” That for sure was a Chinese name, but from Guam? Do they speak English in Guam or some weird native language invented by native Guamanians? I was not even aware that people lived in Guam; to me, Guam was just a tourist place located in some part of the continent. I had requested for an Asian roommate, but this Chinese girl from Guam was too much for me. I was raised in California all my life and although California is filled with people from different ethnicities, I mainly hung out with friends who were similar to my background: Koreans who were born and raised in California. When I arrived at my University of Washington dorm room, the name tags in front of our door read “Yu” and “You Mee.” Other dorm residents were either snickering as they passed by or whispering to their friends, “you’ve gotta be kidding me, Yu and You Mee?!” I groaned immediately as soon as I saw our name tags.

When I met my roommate, she was not a two headed alien from Guam that I had imagined. To my surprise, her main language was English. She did not go by the name “Yu Ling” but by Janice. She had a younger sister who was about my younger sister’s age. She was also a clueless freshman who did not know what she wanted to major in and had no friends. We immediately bonded. We did everything together including studying, going to the mall, and even eating. She was also there for me when I needed a friend at the most. She was a loyal friend who had a deep, considerate heart for others. By living with her for my entire freshman year, I learned some valuable things that I probably would not have learned from my friends growing up. She taught me how to manage expenses. She taught and helped me build my self-esteem. From the many different things she taught me, she taught me the most important thing a friend can ever teach another: a true meaning of friendship. I went through a financial difficulty right after my freshman year so I had to take years off of school. I had to come down from Seattle and work full time. Although we were miles away, Janice stood by. She proved to me that her definition of a friend was different from my definition. My original definition of a friend was someone that you would go to mall with, or talk to on the phone about a crush at school. On the other hand, the friendship that she showed me was something that came from inside.

To this day, although we are still miles apart from each other, we consistently keep each other updated with our daily lives. She still remains as my closest friend that I would never be able to replace with anything. Janice’s different background not only changed me but it became a part of me. She probably is unaware that she changed me, but the weird Chinese girl that I first was scared to face at first, became my other self.

Back to Awards You Mee Kim
04/13/2012
East Los Angeles College
Undergraduate