Where are you from? 

Oh, that's a big question that I always overthink, but I guess I was born in Seoul, Korea. And then when I was four years old, when I had just turned four, our family immigrated from Seoul to Toronto, Canada. And that was because my dad, he was like, he got like a PhD opportunity in Waterloo at the time, which isn't even in Toronto, but Toronto is just like where we first landed as a family. And then from then on, our family, we just moved around a lot within Canada, like different suburbs for the most part. And currently, I am back in Toronto, just like here to finish school. 

Where do you live now? 

I am currently living in Toronto, Canada for at least the end of spring. And then starting July, I will be moving to Cologne, Germany, and possibly other parts of Germany, depending on what I end up doing.

What is your name? 

My birth name is Hyunjoo Park, Park Hyunjoo, because I'm Korean. And it was given to me, it was actually decided by my grandmother on my mom's side, because in our family, it's like tradition to have your grandma named the kids. And all throughout my life, to be honest, I kind of struggled with my name a lot. Because like, as a kid growing up in North America, and growing up in an area where it wasn't very diverse for me. It's kind of hard to really understand my identity and feel a connection with my name, just like at the time, because I was figuring things out. And I, there wasn't really like a lot of representation in the area that I lived. So just for context, this is after our family, we moved out of Toronto, we moved to Waterloo, which is this whole other suburb in Ontario. Because my dad was based there. And that area was, I mean, it's a lot more diverse now, but it was not very diverse back then when I was there around like, like grade one to three. So my name, like I originally went by my Korean name, Hyunjoo. And then I found somehow it just started like condensed to Joo. People really struggled with saying it. So Joo was kind of a nickname for me for a while. And then, around like middle school, I went by the actually like a whole other name, I had a Catholic name for like a year. I am a Korean Roman Catholic, and we have like our Catholic name equivalents. And mine was Agnes. So that was my name for like a hot minute. And then I realized I did not vibe with that at all. So I just went back to Joo for a really long time. And then more recently, my name is, a Western equivalent name, which is Jules. And I just kind of like to use both Joo and Jules. 

How do you navigate your daily life with your name? 

I am in a place in my life where I'm still kind of exploring my identity, I guess, as like, Asian American diaspora kid. And I guess, third culture kid in some aspects. And for me, the way I've been able to find that connection to myself is kind of being able to name myself in a sense. So that's why I wanted to adopt, like a Western name for just a second, like a hot minute. Or while continuing on and forwards. Not to say I'm completely forgetting and replacing my Korean birth name. I kind of identify as both Korean and North American. And all throughout my life, I really struggled with understanding what that means. I thought like, I have to belong in either or. And I saw it as binary concepts. But now I have grown to realize that it doesn't have to be that way. You can see it as more of an inclusive situation where I can be, I can be both if I want to be. And depending on the situation, the environment I'm in, the name that I feel like more safe to showcase in that environment, most aligned for that environment is kind of like the one I go with. So like around my friends, a lot of casual colleagues, like my homies, they just know me as a Joo. But then I found that in typical workplace scenarios where I'm meeting people for the first time, I don't really have a strong connection with them.I go by Jules just for my own convenience, honestly, because I found so many cases where people mispronounce my name a lot. One time I went to this one conference, and you know how you like to introduce yourself to a circle, right? I introduced myself. Oh, my name is Joo. And one of the guys there, he was like, Oh, your name is Jew. Like he looked at me, like kind of confused. And he was also Asian, too. So I'm not sure why that was hard for him. But anyways, he asked me if that's okay for him to say like, because I think he associated the word with the Jewish community. It's just cases like that, where I realized, like, I don't want to deal with those problems anymore for my own sake. I think that's also another concern that I kind of have when I'm adopting my Western name, that my friends who are Korean or other Asian diaspora will look at me and be like, Oh, this girl, she is caving into Western culture. When, to be honest, I just don't want to hear the most wrong pronunciation of my name, or my most like precious, authentic name that my grandma gave me. I'm done dealing with those issues and like caring. That's kind of why I adopt Jules in certain scenarios, and then Joo in familiar situations.

Do you resonate with your given name or your chosen name? 

I resonate with both. I think with my chosen name, I resonated with it in the sense that I was able to like, create it for myself. It wasn't just given to me like the Roman Catholic name that was given to me. So that kind of agency helps me feel this connection to that name, Jules, and also just being able to identify as both like, Asian American and be comfortable with the name that represents me. And in terms of my Korean name, it does have a meaning. Like, Hyunjoo, like apparently, it means like a pole. And in a literal sense, but in a more like, deeper level sense. So I asked my mom about it, and she said it's like a pole that acts as a foundation to hold something together. So I guess over time, I didn't, I didn't really understand how that really related to me. But now I see it as like, maybe I'm like a figure in my family that helps to hold our family together kind of thing. And I think, I think being like a first gen, you know, immigrant family daughter, I kind of relate that meaning to my role, growing up in Canada, where I'm setting up a foundation for future generations here to live and also like to thrive in this new country and this new culture. So yeah, that's how I like to make sense of that.

How have you been naming yourself in the digital world?

In the digital world, I kind of, like to name myself by using my nickname Joo in the digital world, just because like, it's like cozier for me to do that. And it's safe, so far, it's been like a safe space for me to express that part of myself. So I normally just go by like, like, it's Joo Park, or like my Instagram handles like joopark.jpg. And the file types just kind of change with every single new account. When I was in middle school, I used to play RuneScape, a game based in medieval Europe, I guess. And I went by, I remember that was like one of the very first games I ever, ever played. And I went by like Archfile on the game, because I was trying to spell orchid. But I didn't know how to spell it. So that's, that's how it came to be. Apart from that, I just go by like Joo Park, usually.

Do you like your digital name? 

I would say when I was making my account, it just kind of came naturally for me. With online media, I just kind of approach it as a cozy space for me. I feel like it just came organically, and I just wanted to be myself. And in a sense, like, when you are yourself, you kind of attract that energy back. I mean, so far, it's kind of been a very comfortable space. So that was like my approach to making an account handle.

Do you resonate with your digital handle? 

I mean I think I resonate with my digital handle, because it's not that different from my real name. It's just joopark with joopark JPEG, that kind of goes back again to how I balance my identity with being Asian American, being able to have both Joo and Jules as my name, and not think that I have to be either or, I can be both. And in a sense, maybe I feel a little more comfortable online, because a lot of these accounts are driven by my own agency to make these spaces for myself. So I think that's why I like, just showcase myself as Joo online. And kind of signaling to people that, hey, I'm Korean, and build community there with my Asian American creative friends. 

Would you still choose to have your Western name? 

Honestly, yeah, I think I would. And because when I was naming myself Jules, it wasn't like just a random name I thought of, I specifically did it because I thought it sounds a lot kind of like my Korean name Joo, it felt like they related to each other. There's like a bridge in between those two entities. In a sense, that's kind of how I picture my identity, where there is, I have my American side, and my Asian side. And they are similar, they're connected, they're like merged. I would still go with Jules, because it reminds me of my Korean name Joo. And I would still go with Joo because it reminds me of my American name Jules. And it's like this yin and yang, I guess, circle, they balance each other out. I wouldn't go by Agnes, because that's, that was a weird, that was a weird era.