We are excited to Introduce our second annual Anthony So Summer English Teaching Fellow, Soy Park.When Anthony Veasna So, a published author and former NGS teacher passed away far too young in 2020, his family created an annual fund to ensure his memory would live on, through English teachers who would honor his legacy through our Summer Academy Program. Thus, the Anthony Veasna So English Teaching Fellowship was created, and we are pleased to welcome Soy this summer, who shares these words:
“Hello! My name is Soy, and I’m the 2022 Anthony So Fellow. I am a child of the Korean peninsula, which is surrounded on three sides by the ocean and about 70% mountains. I grew up mostly on the East Coast/unceded Lenape lands, and I am so excited and honored to be here on Coastal Miwok/Southern Pomo land learning and growing with you all. This land’s stunning combination of mountains-pine trees-ocean, as well as its beautiful way of existing with painful histories, reminds me deeply of my own ancestral lands.
In Anthony’s writing, I feel seen and mirrored in the deep seeking that has driven much of my life thus far. Seeking to translate; seeking to remix; seeking to understand; and seeking confirmation–this seeking, to me, is at the core of my queer, Asian beingness. Together with my students, I will put Anthony in conversation with works from writers of other diasporas. I hope that we will each depart from our journey more inspired and fearless in our own journeys towards self-location. I am thrilled to find out what is exciting and nourishing to our students, and help them cultivate tools to explore their own brilliant minds bravely and tenderly.”
Soy, who currently resides of Philadelphia, PA, graduated from Princeton University in 2020 with a BA in East Asian Studies. Since 2014, Soy has served as a violin instructor, college advisor at Princeton, curriculum and processes instructor in Beijing, and community organizer for the Queer and Trans communities. Welcome, Soy!