After the Korean War, my family immigrated to America, where I grew up in an all-white Vermont village in the 1950s. From then on, I learned to become an excellent mimic of those around me, burying instincts and inclinations inherent in my Korean identity. Only recently have I come to understand the tremendous damage inflicted by racism and the practice of assimilation. The fortunate result has been the emergence of a writing voice becoming free from the constraints of both the East and the West. As an older emerging writer, I have been published in only a few literary magazines. One received a Pushcart nomination in 2021. I currently live in the Boston area, where I am completing my first book, a memoir.