NAME: YEGENE LEE
HOMETOWN: SANTA CLARITA, CA
It’s time to meet our west coast fellow! Yegene’s commitment to service and research is clear in her current work, her undergraduate studies, and her recent professional experiences. In the summer of 2018, Yegene worked as an intern at a nonprofit in San Francisco called Lava Mae. Working with this organization, whose aim was to expand access to hygiene practices in the area, Yegene gained acute knowledge of the San Francisco nonprofit world. After graduating from Dartmouth College in 2019, Yegene spent this past year researching and volunteering with immigrant workers in South Korea. Though her time in South Korea was cut short due to the pandemic, Yegene gained a depth of knowledge in research and service which she is excited to bring to her role as the Fellow in the LA office.
YEGENE’S FAVORITE MOVIE:
Chungking Express
As the Los Angeles Fellow, Yegene is excited to work in the area in which she grew up and learn more about the resources available to people in her community. Working mainly with veteran populations at America Works, Yegene has quickly gained a deeper understanding of the transition from military to civilian life and the unique experiences and challenges which come with this transition. Yegene enjoys working with clients and expresses that while her schedule may look fairly similar from day to day with answering calls and reaching out to clients, each day varies greatly and brings new experiences as she interacts with different clients.
YEGENE’s FAVORITE QUOTE:
"Empathy isn't just something that happens to us - a meteor shower of synapses firing across the brain - it's also a choice we make: to pay attention, to extend ourselves. It's made of exertion, that dowdier cousin of impulse. Sometimes we care for another because we know we should, or because it's asked for, but this doesn't make our caring hollow. This confession of effort chafes against the notion that empathy should always rise unbidden, that genuine means the same thing as unwilled, that intentionality is the enemy of love. But I believe in intention and I believe in work."
- Leslie Jamison, "The Empathy Exams"
A Book that Made an Impact on Yegene:
The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Ngyuen
One of the more recent books Yegene has read during quarantine, this book explores the Vietnam War from the perspective of a Vietnamese America. Yegene appreciates the writing style of the book as well as its examination of Asian American Identities.
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