John was born in South Korea and immigrated to Vancouver, Canada where he spent the majority of his childhood before moving back to Seoul for high school. He is currently a senior in the Peabody College and is pursuing a double major in HOD and philosophy. John believes that the two majors work in tandem as he can explore how human problems in organizations and communities can be solved as well why these problems may arise in the first place.  

Throughout his life, John has enjoyed maintaining an active lifestyle and this has acted as a strong motivator for much of his service. John is the president of the Martha O’ Bryan World Cup, a club where students volunteer to teach soccer and the benefits of a healthy lifestyle to underprivileged students in the Nashville area. Additionally, he is a regular volunteer at Nashville Dolphins, where he teaches children with special needs how to swim. Beyond sports, John has fostered a passion for engaging in service with a legal lens. John conducts research for Tennessee Justice Center, a non-profit law firm that advocates for Tennesseans on issues such as children’s health, nutrition, and health equity. In addition, John is a student volunteer for College Guild, an organization that provides correspondence courses aiming to connect incarcerated people with volunteers. Through College Guild, John is able to gain a more personal insight into the perspectives of America’s incarcerated population. 

John’s experience and enthusiasm working with organizations in the legal domain is complimented by opportunities he has found outside of service. In the summer of 2020, John conducted his summer project interning with International Bridges to Justice (IBJ), a non-profit legal organization that works to uphold justice and human rights worldwide. John audited learning resources and assisted in creating a universal standard for legal defense practice. During that same summer, John co-founded and has since been working on an mHealth startup. John’s app aggregates data from patients that use a wide variety of mHealth apps in order to streamline and simplify data to send to physicians. John leads his team in navigating the tricky terrain of HIPAA laws and patient privacy regulations. In the summer of 2021, John interned for Shin & Kim, a leading law firm in Seoul. He conducted research on trends, issues, and potential growth of Intellectual Property dispute resolution through international arbitration. His time at the firm allowed him to receive exposure to the landscape of international law and transaction.  

John attributes his desire to serve others to his Catholic faith and would like to thank the Ingram family and the Ingram Scholars Program for providing him the opportunity to pursue service at a larger scale. John is extremely honored to be surrounded by such remarkable and impactful students while attending Vanderbilt.