The Fulshear High School community is built from a diverse population of students, each with their own cultural background. Walking through the crowded halls, it can feel as if that unique background gets lost. In the midst of the crowd, clubs act as a safe bubble where one’s background can shine, the newly formed Korean Club being one of them.
Junior Jiwon Lee, founder and president of the Korean Club, put a lot of thought into the goal of the club.
“I started a Korean club because (…) I wanted to spread our Korean culture in (our) school. (I found out that) lots of people are interested in Korean culture, like K-pop and Korean food and stuff,” Jiwon said. “I thought it would be a good idea to make a Korean club community so that we can all share and do some activities together.”
Another reason Jiwon decided to create the Korean Club was the international students that entered the school this year.
“There were some students who actually came to school this year – Koreans – so I got kind of a confidence boost that we can actually make Korean clubs, because I have Koreans that can actually support me as an officer,” Jiwon said.
Meeting every other Thursday after school in room 1426, each club meeting is unique with educational experiences as the main goal.
“In our club, our focus is spreading our Korean culture, but we also teach Korean words to our members, and we also talk about cultural difference(s) between Korea and the U.S. and also we do some Korean activities and play Korean games,” Jiwon said. “(…) What we did in the last meeting, we were making cute packaging stuff with Korean traditional snack(s), with packaging that looks like our traditional clothes called hanbok. And in other meetings, we’ll be playing Korean games. So, it looks all different for each of the meetings, and we’re going to plan out.”
The culture sharing aspect of the club enables much more than just awareness; a positive environment is built, fostering growth of new relationships.
“I like the fact that we can actually share our time doing fun stuff and learning about each other’s culture, so that we can interact with each other, meet new friends, and learn about (a) new culture. I think that’s the most interesting part,” Jiwon said.
With the club just starting up, the hope is that a lasting impact is made on the student body, where they become more aware of different cultures.
“I want them to be interested in Korean culture eventually, and I hope they can actually learn the words in our club and then actually practically use them in real life,” Jiwon said. “Or it will help them at some point (in) their life in the future.”
Not only was the club designed to share Korean culture, but Jiwon also hoped that the club would provide a space for others to destress and have some fun.
“I want them to have (a) fun time in our club, like besides schoolwork and everything, because I know that school works are kind of stressful sometimes, so I want them to have chill time in our club and actually have fun and meet their friends and interact together.”
The club is still relatively new and it is still welcome to any students who want to join. To learn more or for meeting updates, follow @cfhs.koreanclub on Instagram. As Jiwon said, “We’re not that big club yet, so I hope more people come into our club.”
