Just a few months after becoming a teenager, Sungbin Ma decided to leave his hometown of Seoul City, South Korea, with the intentions of exploring his education in a new and entirely different environment. Just about eight exhausting years later, Sungbin still resides in Blacksburg, Virginia, now attending Virginia Tech as a sophomore. Of course, his arrival on campus was by no means easy.
When describing life away from home, Sungbin said, “I miss my family; especially my father and mother. I came here when I was thirteen by myself, so I wasn’t able to spend my teenage years with my parents.” Sungbin was forced to leave his entire family behind, in hopes of bettering his education, a feat that proved to be strenuous.
One can imagine how difficult it might be to embark on a life across the Pacific Ocean, with virtually no familiar faces. This task would be daunting for any person, no matter the age, but to attempt to manage such a change in scenery at the tender age of thirteen is mind-boggling. With such an abrupt change, expectations for a smooth and easy transition were in no way high. At any rate, Sungbin felt he was ready for this certain alteration in lifestyle, and flew across the globe, until he finally arrived in an extremely unfamiliar town, Fredericksburg, Virginia, a town not so far from his current location.
Since his arrival onto American soil, Sungbin has continued to baffle any critics, and continue to better his education, and ultimately, himself. While he has adapted much better than people had expected, the journey has been tedious, and at times, doubtful. Thankfully, with the values bestowed in him while living in South Korea, Sungbin has been able to find a way to prove the doubters wrong each and everyday. This is in large part due to the his biggest influence; his father.
“My dad is easily my greatest influence. He is my mentor, my teacher, my parent, and my biggest supporter. His life story truly motivates me in many ways, especially in my studies,” said Sungbin of his father. Before leaving his parents’ side at thirteen, Sungbin was fortunate enough grow very close with his parents, more specifically, his father. While this added to the hardship he had to experience due to distance, it has helped him in the long run in many ways. Even at a young age, Sungbin was able to learn valuable life lessons and values; Christianity, being the most important to him.
“My Christian values are very important to me. I try to stand by my religion under all circumstances,” stated very clearly by Sungbin. By keeping his Christian values close to his heart every step along the way, Sungbin has been able to beat the odds and overcome every obstacle he has faced.
When Sungbin was so desperate that he lacked faith in himself, he still maintained faith in God. When he was faced with such trials and tribulations, that he was unable to rely on himself, he relied on God, and eventually came out the victor in each conflict. And so, it is no surprise that Sungbin’s greatest accomplishment is overcoming adversity.
When asked about his greatest accomplishment to date, Sungbin replied, “I feel that my greatest accomplishment is never giving up. There has been many, many times that I have wanted to give up studying in the United States, and go back to my life in South Korea. However, I was able to get through it all, and get into Virginia Tech.”
When asked that same question, Sungbin’s cousin, Ji Hye Lee and best friend, Jinkwan Lee, both shared the same response. Not to ignore his other accomplishments throughout his life, because there have been several, but what other achievement could truly compete with this one?
Sungbin has already had an amazing life with an amazing story, but he still yearns for more. All of his reasoning in coming to Virginia Tech to study, was so that he may one day be a very successful adult. His plan for doing this as of now, is majoring in Economics. This has been his dream for the majority of his teenage years, and now, just about five years later, his plan is finally playing out the way he had intended it to.
Like the majority of college students, if not all of them, Sungbin wishes to have a profitable career, having a six-figure income soon after graduation. While he is not yet positive on his specific career choice, he is very sure that it will be centered around finance. When asked where he envisions himself working in the near future, again, he is not conclusive, but is able to narrow it down between the United States and South Korea (favoring South Korea).
The fact that Sungbin favors South Korea, shows more than his employment intentions, but where he would enjoy to live out the rest of his life as well. When asked where he would travel if transportation were not an issue, Sungbin replied, “I would love to not just visit South Korea, but live there too. It would be interesting to see how much it has changed over the years. More than that, I would love to see my family and friends again.”
“I would also love to visit Japan. Some find it odd that I lived so close to Japan, and never actually made it there, but I don’t feel it is all that strange. In America, there are many people who have not visited Canada, and that’s not much different.”
Sungbin’s main reason in wanting to visit Japan happens to be it’s extensive city life. This is something he grew accustom to in Seoul City, and has missed the scenery ever since. So while Sungbin Ma’s journey started in Seoul City, there is good reason to believe that it may end there as well.
So far, Sungbin has managed to leap every hurdle, and has every intention of continuing to do so throughout the rest of his life. Whether he spends the majority of his life in South Korea, or perhaps here in America, time will tell. However, one thing is for certain, and that is no matter the setting, Sungbin Ma will do everything in his power to find success, in his quest for glory.
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