My journey in medicine is finally about to begin, and so is my adventure in Brisbane, Australia. I will be landing on an unknown territory, just like how suddenly everything started in 2006 when I, as a teenage boy dazzled by his maltreated depression, was shoved on a plane heading to Canada. But this time, I’m healthier than ever before and my heart is fully loaded with ambition.

This journey is an extension of my undergrad thesis project in fine art. It was about how to achieve the full recovery from mental health diagnosis and attain self-autonomy as an individual. It mainly illustrates two things. The first is the structural similarity between how modern psychiatry is governing our understanding of ourselves and how the Catholic church governed the mindset of the medieval era. The second is the Korean shamanist model of the the healer-patient relationship, which I proposed as an alternative, less patriarchal, fluid perspective to look at it.

My thesis is yet to be finished, because I wasn’t capable enough. Now I am closer to accessing more medical knowledge, so that I can make my argument more robust. I wanted the medical degree’s authority, which will make my voice be taken seriously. I want to study medicine to challenge it – I know it sounds ironic, but there is a saying in Korea, “If you wish to hunt a tiger, you must follow it into its cave.” I have an ambitious goal, and I am being attracted to the domain of my goal.

I’m chasing a tough game, but I’m a tough game as well. Sometimes I think that my potential reaches its maximum only when I am fighting against something, usually status quo. Without a surprise, I love punk music and Sex Pistols. The rebellious electric guitar rhythms make my heart pound.