One of My Dreams Come True

Kristina Steele Start Date: Jan 4, 2018 - End Date: May 3, 2018
  • Cultural Exchange
  • Educational/Research Trip
  • Study/Degree Abroad
  • South Korea
  • Seoul, South Korea
  • Jeju-do, South Korea
  • Jeonju-si, Jeollabuk-do, South Korea

My Travel Story

by: Kristina Steele Start Date: Jan 4, 2018 - End Date: May 3, 2018
  • Cultural Exchange
  • Educational/Research Trip
  • Study/Degree Abroad
Why Should You Fund My Travel?
Hi, everyone! My name is Kristina Steele and I am currently a student at Ivy Tech Community College in Evansville, Indiana. I will finish my associate's degree in General Studies this year after the summer. I am planning to go on a class trip to South Korea before I finish my associate's degree and transfer to a 4-year college. I will be traveling through Tennessee Consortium of International Studies(TnCIS). We will be spending a week in each city, for a total of 3 different city for 3 weeks. I have traveled abroad before a couple of years ago. I went to China in the city of Suzhou and was an English teacher for a kindergarten there. It was such an amazing experience to live in another country for a year and learn the language a little bit while I was teaching. If anyone in this world is given the opportunity to study or travel abroad for some time, they definitely should take that chance and make the best out of it. They will be able to learn a lot about the country and see several beautiful sites. 

For those people who do not know me that well, I am a huge fan of the South Korean culture, music, and shows. When I was a freshman in high school, this was the time when I found K-pop. The first group that made me interested in Korean pop music was SHINee. After I saw one music video by them, I watched the rest of their videos, downloaded all of their songs, watched live performances online, and watched their TV shows. This was the very first group that showed me the world of K-pop and made me fall in love with them. This past year, I went to their concert as part of their SHINee World V tour in March. I have been following them for the last 8 years and I felt like I had to see them, no matter where they were performing, and this is why I flew all the way to Dallas, Texas to see them. Going to my first Kpop concert and being able to see them for the first time was such a mind-blowing experience. I was able to meet so many people with the same interests and that also liked other Kpop singers and make friends with them. When the concert began, I lost my voice from screaming so much after the first three songs were played. After the concert ended, the members were saying and waving goodbye to us and there was confetti flying everywhere at the same time. At this very moment, I realized I finally got to see the group that changed my life forever for the last 8 years after discovering them online. When I had this thought, I instantly started crying so hard. I finally got to see some of my biggest inspirations live on stage and perform all of the songs and dances I love. After this Kpop concert experience, I knew I had to go see other groups perform live that I like a lot and have the same feeling again. Some of the other groups and singers I saw live in 2017 were BTS, Monsta X, G-Dragon, Seventeen, and Taeyang. These are some of the reasons why I am so passionate and determined to travel to South Korea.
 
This trip to South Korea in May of 2018 will have a huge impact on my education and future career. If I am able to participate in this class trip, I will receive a certificate of Global Studies from my school and will be one of the first people to achieve this certificate. I plan on having a future career of being a translator and interpreter and having the chance to travel as well. I want to have a major in Language Arts and also learn the languages of Japanese, Korean, and Chinese. I already studied Japanese in high school for 3 years and know some basics of Chinese and Korean, so I already have some of those languages under my belt a little bit.  If I can achieve this certificate after finishing my trip to South Korea, it will look very good on my applications to colleges and on my future resumes when I am looking for a job in the future. I am still deciding on which 4-year university to transfer to soon, but I think I will finish my Language Arts major at USI or UE in my town and then go to IU to study my languages. This is how this chance to travel to South Korea will have an impact on my education and future career in translating and interpreting and is so meaningful to me to finally happen. 

To the people who are willing to fund my travel to South Korea in May of this year, you do not have to give a lot. Even the smallest amounts will help me in so many ways in the end. I would appreciate it and be very thankful to every person who decides to give towards my travel. I will pay for the rest of the amount that is left for my trip when my FundMyTravel is over. I will try to personal send every person who gives a postcard from my trip and a thank you letter and tell them how they helped. 
  • South Korea
  • Seoul, South Korea
  • Jeju-do, South Korea
  • Jeonju-si, Jeollabuk-do, South Korea