Malicious intent and bullying turned Luke Park into a champion of social justice and relationship coaching.
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The following story has been unreported, untold, and the first time this is being spoken of.
My dark days as a child in the mid to late 1990s…
I went through discrimination and prejudice by being labeled and treated as a second class citizen of humanity with malicious intent and bullying. The Journey of My Cultural Identity reveals my past internal struggles and frustrations with racial and cultural identities.
1998: The first four years of being in Canada were great. 4 years after immigrating, I switched from French Immersion to public school. Things really changed.
The Events of Being Discriminated, Labeled and Bullied
I remember being bullied ridiculously by three male classmates whenever recess happened in the outdoor playground at Hedgehog Public School. Even though I was a very young kid, I tried to understand why they bullied me and why they did things to attempt to belittle me. My attempts to interpret and understand their behaviour at such an early age may have come from being surrounded by mature, moral, and ethically experienced adults. I have always been around individuals older than me from diverse backgrounds. Their good influence must have rubbed off on me, which is why I had tried to understand why those boys bullied me.
The actions of the bullies came from a place of malicious intent toward their one target—me. They would comment about the way I looked based on racial or cultural appearances. They would comment about what I ate for lunch (Korean food), about how I dressed, and so forth.
They would say things such as:
“You look strange…Are you a ch**k!? Are you an alien? Go Home!”
… and more. Eventually, things escalated further and got worse; from hateful and judgmental words to attempts at causing physical harm through violence. They began attempts to punch me, Fortunately, I had learned how to defend myself four years earlier and continued to practice martial arts as a means for self-defense, and protection of others, for many years to come.
Tae Kwon Do
I didn’t have to resort to the bullies violent behaviour. When they did try to corner and assault me, Tae Kwon Do taught to get out of the attack and surround myself with other peers in a more populated area of safety and security. As time passed, the discrimination, labeling, and bullying all stopped. In middle school, I found out they were bullying me because I was the new kid on the block. They were taking their family/parental separation issues out on me as a coping mechanism. My initial reaction was: There’s no justification for their inappropriate words and actions toward me when we were much younger. However, I have forgiven them even though there was never an apology. I forgave them because I learned. I learned in order to move on, you must forgive others and heal. In order to heal, we must forgive ourselves.
In Sociology, there’s Labeling Theory that can have terrible effects on any individual who continues to get labeled. Labels often originate from a place of prejudice and deception, yet when you hear the labels again and again and again and still don’t believe in them the labels eventually begin to affect you in many different ways like a ripple effect. Labels, the tags of stereotypes in the mall of generalizations, whether good or bad, they treat people as objects and not as unique human beings.
Despite all the pessimistic affairs I went through as an immigrant, a 1.5 generation child of Korean descent who is Canadian by citizenship, I wouldn’t change my experiences even if I was given a magical chance to do so.
The Moral Compass
Without having gone through such events, I wouldn’t have become a person with a passion for social justice, leadership, psychology, philosophy, spirituality, relationships, social dynamics, and so much more. Forgiveness showed me there are people who want help.
The Moral Compass of Attraction and Social Adaptation (Leadership and Social Intelligence Movement) comes from my experiences: neutral, bad, ugly, and good. Action for change comes from helping others learn, experience, gain, and share fulfilling relationships from any perspective of principles, morals, and ethical practices. My life long fascination with human behaviour (when it faces diverse contexts and inter-disciplinary fields) has lead me to guide others using: holistic leadership, emotional awareness, social dynamics, social intelligence, attraction, social confidence, and charisma in all different types of settings.
We’re all human beings that have the desire and requirement to connect with others deeply. The Moral Compass of Attraction provides a holistic approach to fulfilling relationships and life transformations with social confidence for families, relatives, co-workers, friends, colleagues, associates, and loved ones.
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Feature photo: AlphaTangoBravo / Adam Baker/Flickr