A sampler of 2004 graduates

Hundreds of students passed in and out of the ELI hallways in 2004. Here three of them share their stories.

Leading through communicating
In the second floor lounge at ELI, a student sat patiently waiting for a conference with his teacher and thumbing through a well-worn copy of All about Telephone Calls.

For Jin-Ho Ok, the 280 sample phone conversations contained in the two-volume pink and green manual were not just good language practice––they were a logistical necessity. Ok was the escort assigned by Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (HUFS) to accompany 18 students during their studies at ELI in January and February,

Jin-Ho Ok

Most afternoons and evenings, the 38-year-old spoke by phone with HUFS students living in the Christiana Towers dormitory. Daily he called home to Seoul, South Korea, to speak to his four-year-old son and to his wife, who was carrying their second child, due last May.

Jin-Ho first used the manual in the Korean Air Force. As liaison officer, he needed it to communicate with the American military stationed in South Korea. In fact, his military career helped prepare him to lead and to participate in ELI classes in many ways.

Born in the year of the sheep, at ELI Jin-Ho seemed anything but sheepish.

“I used to be shy,” he said, smiling. “I could never have [escorted this group] or given a presentation in class before going into the air force.”

The six years of managing large groups of men helped him to develop his self-confidence and transformed the quiet English literature major into an outgoing leader.

When he left the military in 1996, Jin-Ho joined Hankuk University’s Office of Student Affairs. His duties include counseling and negotiating with students. Many of his colleagues, he said, are former military officers.

That type of background helps, Ok explained, because Korean students are “more or less militant.” An increase in university tuition, for example, would not be accepted quietly.

“They don’t want to compromise,” he said.

At HUFS, Jin-Ho spends a lot of time talking and socializing with students. By the end of the year, he’s become their friend.

The ability to connect with younger people served Jin- Ho well here. He was able to handle the 18 diverse personalities in the group, he said, and, as an ELI student himself, he enjoyed interacting with his classmates.

“It’s a great experience for me,” he said.

Taking a stand
From the peak of El Avila, Patricia Suarez of Caracas, Venezuela, can see her native city stretching out along a beautiful valley and sandy beaches reaching down to the Caribbean Sea. Founded by Spaniard Diego de Losado in 1567 and birthplace to Simón Bolívar, Caracas is the capital of Venezuela and the center of its cultural, commercial and political life. And in 2004, it was the scene of a national referendum that would set the course for the future of Venezuela.

Patricia Suarez

Suarez, who has family ties to both South America and Spain, has a deep love for her homeland. She studied to be an economist, receiving her master’s degree in business administration with a focus on marketing and finance. After her university studies, she pursued a career in the national oil industry, Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A. But political developments over the last seven years in the major petroleum producing nation have brought changes to this important national industry, impacting the lives of many, including Suarez.

Since 1998, President Hugo Chavez has concentrated power in the presidency and has gained increasing control over the state-run oil company. A charismatic populist, Chavez proclaimed a “revolution of the poor,” using the country’s oil revenues to fund literacy programs, food pantries and medical clinics.

But critics say Chavez’s policies have hurt the middle class, widened the gap between rich and poor and moved Venezuela toward a Cuba-style dictatorship. His frequent and controversial appointments to the position of national oil C.E.O. led to unrest in the industry.

“Chavez finally appointed as chief a low-level employee who had previously been fired for incompetence and corruption and who openly opposes capitalism,” said Suarez.

When 50 percent of oil company employees marched out of the office and into the mid-day traffic carrying signs that read: “Promotion must be by job merit, not by political affiliation,” Suarez felt compelled to join them.

Between 2000 and 2002, the political and economic turmoil intensified. Because of their participation in the protests and strikes, large numbers of professionals in the oil industry lost their jobs. Suarez was one of those who found themselves unemployed and with an uncertain future.

Rather than back down from her stand, Suarez joined other Venezuelans in increased social and political activism, working toward collecting sufficient signatures to force Chavez to resign from office. Meanwhile, Suarez forged ahead with her career. She and some colleagues formed a business partnership that provides business consulting services in the area of finance.

With a national referendum on Chavez pending, Suarez journeyed to Newark, Delaware, in the spring of 2004 to improve the English skills needed for her new career as an entrepreneur in the changing Venezuelan oil business. After much hard work and many new friendships, she graduated in June as valedictorian of her class.

After Suarez returned to Venezuela, a national referendum upheld the Chavez presidency. As a result, Suarez is currently hindered from doing business in her country’s oil market and has taken a job in finance for a private company. She remains positive in her hope for political and social renewal in her country.

“My time at ELI was marvelous, not only because I improved my English, but also because I learned a lot from my friends, ELI teachers and staff and my homestay family,” said Suarez. “I believe I have been blessed with this opportunity. I don’t think I could have chosen a better place to study!”

Portrait of an artist
When she needed visual aids for a class presentation, Hye-Reon Chang didn’t use PowerPoint or overhead transparencies. Instead, she painted colorful images on traditional Korean paper

Hye-Reon Chang

Acrylic paint is the favorite medium for the illustrator, who spent her free time between classroom assignments at ELI immersing herself in the art and architecture of Mayan, Inca and Egyptian civilizations before sending sketches for a children’s book on ancient ruins to a publisher in Korea.

The 30-year-old artist majored in graphic design at Buchon College in Incheon, South Korea, but quit her first position as a graphic designer for a clothes catalog company after just one month on the job because it was too restrictive. Today she greatly prefers book illustration.

“It’s closer to fine art,” she said. “Graphic design must follow the client’s wishes.”

As an illustrator, Hye-Reon can follow her own imagination. She finds the work both fun and demanding.

“It’s like a drug—we cannot quit,” she said, smiling. “My mother says I will die while I’m drawing my pictures because I am very tired.”

To date, Hye-Reon has illustrated close to 20 children’s books, including a Korean-English edition of “Stacey’s Gift,” which tells the story of a family with a disabled child, and another tale about a cloned cat. In each case, she had to research her subject—Down’s syndrome or cloning—before she could begin her illustrations.

“If I can’t understand the story, I can’t illustrate it,” she said.

Hye-Reon has won two prizes from the Korean Association of Publishing and Fine Arts, and, before joining ELI in March, she had an exhibition of her illustrations in Seoul. In the future, Hye-Reon hopes her improved English skills may help her study fine arts at the School of Visual Arts in New York City and procure more freelance contracts with American book publishers.