Kangbo Lee
Kangbo is a friend of mine whom I met while having a gap year before coming to Emory. I had a gap year in Korea to prepare an extra year for Korean college entrance exam. In Korea, majority of the students go to academic institutions for their further studies. Even those who want individual studies still go to the institutions because they do not want to get distracted from any other things, As a classmate, Kangbo and I talked a lot from the beginning. At first, I had no idea that he also had interest in music. However, as we got along more, I realized that we had many things in common related to music. He enjoyed singing and practicing. Though it was not what we were supposed to do, we often went to karaoke to relieve stress. What I felt from Kangbo, different from Jennie, is that practice makes perfect. He was so coward at the beginning that he could barely sing in front of other people. It was not that he did not have interest in music, nor was it because he couldn't sing. He was definitely a singer but he simply lacked confidence. However, as time went by, he kept practicing and now he sings in front of anybody. BUT, what I really want to mention about him is his skill of playing instrument. I thought he would also go to college and participate in a club as a vocal. However, he took a totally different path. He decided to challenge himself a little bit, applying for an orchestra. He used to play violin as a hobby and thought he should start developing his instrumental skills. I've only heard that he went into an orchestra, so got curious about how he was working on it. I texted him, waiting for his response. As soon as he replied, I started to ask him questions. "Hey Kangbo, how's your orchestra going? Are you having fun?" "Hey, I became the second-in-command of my orchestra. What a surprise, isn't it? I haven't imagined I would come this far." It was a real surprise, a very pleasant one. I got excited and asked him to give further information. I started with my first question. "When did you say you first started playing violin? And why?" "I just began taking lessons because it seemed cool. It turned out to be fun, so I kept playing as a simple hobby." "So, can you give me some further explanation about your orchestra?" "Sure. Its a college orchestra and we perform regularly, usually during every vacation periods. We hang out pretty frequently too." It was good to hear that he was getting along with the members well. Though it wasn't a surprise because he always had no problem with his friends. |
I continued asking him questions. "Did you have any problems dealing with style differences between you and the orchestra?" I actually expected what he would say, because he and I always had in common that we usually don't have rigid styles in anything. We hardly had problems with others because of our own preference. As expected, he said "Nah, I am pretty fond of classical music, so there wasn't any special distinction about pursuing styles." "Good. Then how do you think you are influenced by your club activity?" "I think there's nothing better than playing instruments to purify my mind. There's this thing that I can feel only in the orchestra. When all the other instruments make a perfect harmony, that truly is a sensation. I love it." I've never imagined how big a pleasure from playing an instrument could be. Kangbo gave me a motivation that I should once try playing instrument in the future. Since Kangbo and I spent a long time studying in the same environment, I was curious about his answer to the fifth question. "Doesn't your club activity have any conflict with your academic life? I assume it would be pretty hard to balance the two." "Obviously yes. The practice is really time-consuming. Plus, you know I have so much work to do for my major. Well we're already well used to Korea's harsh academic atmosphere. All I can do is to spend every leisure time on my club activity. Or else I could just give up my GPA...Not a solution haha." I felt his stress toward both his academic burden and responsibility of being second-in-command in the orchestra. "I hope I can help you out with it..Sorry to hear that. But I believe you can work it out. I trust in you!" "Here's my last question my friend." "Whoa what is it? Seems like a difficult question." "How did you know?Actually it is. I am still considering it to. What's the cultural role of music? Any thoughts about it?" "...I knew it was going to be a hard question..Give me a minute. I have to think about it." I waited, actually for quite a while. All I could hear was him sighing. "Jinkyung I'm sorry but you also know that I suck at answering those profound questions..Can I give you an answer afterward? I think its going to pass your homework due date but still.." I really didn't want to stress him out, so I said ok. I think it is not so crucial to actually express the cultural role of music into words. I believe he is feeling all the roles and power of music himself while enjoying music. |