| Okay, let me clarify some confusions that everyone has in that last entry. When I mentioned Trojan, I meant "Oak Ridge High School Trojans" because I had graduated a few days earlier since that entry. I did not get accepted nor even bothered applying at USC because one, I do not have a 4.0 GPA, and two, I would never go to So. Cal. Just letting everyone know so you don't get the wrong idea. Now getting down to business, I came back last week after staying 5 weeks in Japan. Many had asked "How was Japan?" and I said to them all the same thing, "There is a lot to talk about". Indeed, there is. I had to write many reports about my trip, which is why I said those things. The trip to Japan was not a vacation, nor was it a place that I went and came back entertained, but rather, a place that I had learned a lot of what I wanted to do. If you're wondering any cute girls I met, the answer is "Yes", but I'm not writing in this Ancient Journal to talk about that at the moment, but rather, talk about my final days in the Youth Group, as I begin to join the many people in the CKPC blogring that are in College. This mainly applies to my days of being a part of the CKPC Praise Team
Note: You will notice I say "Capitalists" a few times in the essay. It is a nickname that I've given to CKPC just because of the fact that there are so many Korean churches in Sacramento now that there may possibly be another CK out there, and because our C stands for Capital, I chose Capitalists, just becuase it sounds cool. _____________________________________________ I remember when I was in Seventh grade, I was really insecure in being a part of the Youth Group. I really wanted to be a part of the group, but it was hard due to the fact that a majority of the group were upperclassmen in High School. I remember one day, the Youth Praise band were seeking people to possibly be a part of the band one day and that they held a meeting. I attended it, and they were going around asking people to introduce themselves and talk about what they wanted to play. When it came to me, I was about to say my part until everyone interrupted me by saying "Oh, a Violin player in the group!". It didn't seem like they cared to much of what I wanted to do, all maybe because I was the youngest person in the room at the time. Everyone recognized me as a Violin player only because I was one of the few in the church that still played the Violin at the time. But really, I wanted to play the Piano for the Youth Group. Nothing really happened after that point because everyone didn't look really committed now that I think about it. Only three people that were in the room got to become a part of the Praise team. Those three were: Sam Lee, Haree Kim, and myself.
By the time Sam left the group, Haree took about two years afterwards, and when she need a full band at one point, she asked me to lead alongside her and Stefan, who was interested in the drums. Seizing the opportunity to do what I wanted to do when I was in 7th grade, I was thankful to touch the piano keys at church and lead alongside Haree and Stefan, but in the end, our songs wasn't sounding too good. It came to the point in which my few weeks at Piano would end and Haree would instead throw the bass guitar at me.
I was at first very angry because for one, I had no clue of how to play the Bass Guitar, and two, the one thing I wanted to do lasted only a few weeks. As many weeks passed by, the Praise Band would meet up every week and practice together, eventually improving my Bass playing, along with our band's chemistry. We lead three different praise nights together and we lead at two VBS'. In the end, my wish to play the Piano for the Youth Group would fall to the better player Chanmi who would join the band as well, further improving it. It was until Decemeber 2006 when Haree left us Capitalists, leaving me, Stefan, and Chanmi behind. The three of us knew that it wasn't over, because I had practiced the guitar for the past year and eventually, got promoted to be the next Youth Praise leader in CKPC alongside my support Chanmi. We had played until July 1st, 2007, when I lead one last time and retired after a short six months. I had hoped to play alongside Stefan and Chanmi one last time at Livingstone, but Chan had made the right decision to let the EM play instead, for the Youth Group was not ready yet.
A lot had happened for me in the past six years when I wanted to be a part of a band by playing the instrument I knew the best. It was all a part of God's plans to put me to where I am today, because I never once though back in 7th grade that I would be playing the Bass Guitar or even standing every Sunday, leading praise on the guitar.
From these experiences, I passed my knowledge to a young Steven Suh, who himself struggled at first on the Bass Guitar. People told me he sounded bad when playing alongside the VBS praise team, so I watched, listened, and tutored him. Many did agree with how I tutored him by taking away his sheets, but in the end, he began to sound better. That's how it was like for me when Haree had asked me to play bass. She had me understand that being in the Praise Team didn't matter of what you could play, it was all about commitment. As I stated earlier, I wasn't too happy about playing the Bass at first, but in the end, I became better not as a player, but as a commited person.
Going from the quiet Piano player to the angered Bass player to the surprised Guitar Leader, I have learned a lot through those experiences. I can only say thanks to God, along with Sam Lee and Haree Kim for making me the person I am today.
_____________________________________________________ You may wonder what Sam has done in my life, he has done much. I didn't really come out to Friday Nights too often, but when he got his license and Stefan moved behind me, he would come everyday picking him up, and then me. I was really insecure in the Youth Group, but Sam didn't care, he didn't care about the fact that I hated the world so much for being a loner, he still took me to Friday Nights no matter what. Though he had left a long time ago, I became involved more with the group all because of him. That is basically my story of the past six years and what I've become of it. I can only say, "It's been a good run".
Well, that's that for now.
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