My Life Graph: The Peaks and Valleys — The Transition From an Education in the U.S. to a Career in South Korea
By: Jeong-Yun Moon, Associate Consultant
Chapter 1
Before you begin to read the second chapter of my life, let us peek at chapter 1. This title can be a bit ironic - “Born in South Korea, Raised in the US” Yes, I was born into a perfectly normal family in South Korea, living the life as an adventurous kid in the mountains of Seoul. However soon at age ten, my family uprooted and moved to North Carolina in the United States. Now, never having learned English, I attended a public elementary school where the Asian population was not the largest. I spent more than half of my time in English as Second Language (ESL) classes every day. English soon became my almost native language. Not quite sure why, but I was a wannabe perfectionist in elementary school. I thought learning English had to come first before I could make any friends or do anything. So that’s how it went, I made my first life-long American friends in middle school after I didn’t have to take any more ESL classes. Woohoo! I successfully graduated from elementary, middle, and high school without marking any holes or bumps in my ‘life graph’.
Then, came college. As I waited for college acceptance letters, I found the Goldy Gopher smiling in my mailbox, and that’s when I became a Golden Gopher at heart. I spent 4 years at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities studying Industrial and Systems Engineering and Computer Science. So now that you have a little synopsis of Chapter 1, let us kick off Chapter 2.
Chapter 2
If you ask me when my ‘life graph’ started the decline, I can specify that moment to the first semester of my senior year of college. Not just because senioritis hit hard, but because that’s when I found out that I had to move back to Korea after college. It was due to both personal and family reasons, but the decision was final — no exceptions. I always dreamed of myself walking the stage with Goldy Gopher, going on a graduation trip to Europe, then starting my career somewhere warm and beautiful in California. “Starting my career somewhere warm and beautiful in California” was crossed off on my list, but I soon had to cross out everything else because then the pandemic happened. At that point, getting a job offer was a top priority regardless of the location or situation.
Finding Veeva
Amid my job search, I found out about the Consultant Development Program (CDP) at Veeva Korea and soon discovered that my older sister was a Veeva product customer herself. She told me more about Veeva and its products, which really spiked my interest in the company. I did a little more research and applied for the Associate Consultant position. Fortunately, I passed the interview process and got an offer to join the team in the Korea office. Starting my first job in my not-so-home country was tough. There were many cultural things that I was aware of but never had to practice being in the States. For example: politely interacting with people in various positions in the office with traditional Korean business manners, and having to spend 90 minutes in the non-breathable, rush hour Korean subway. Not only that, I was also worried about “doing” business in Korean. I was more comfortable with speaking, writing, and reading in English, but the fact that things had to be done in Korean all of the sudden put me under a lot of pressure. Honestly, I was not happy with where I was physically and mentally for a couple of months after moving to Korea. Even after discovering Korea and its delicious food, I was already missing my friends and family in the US. I had to come to terms with that life was running its course and I had to roll with it.
As I wrapped up my capstone project in Clinical Data Management Services (CDMS) and began making an impact at Veeva by participating in local and global projects, I began to loosen myself up to the opportunity I had. I realized how fortunate I was to have a job and the people around me to support my journey in Korea. The people I met at Veeva and the global culture implemented at Veeva began the rise of my ‘life graph’. I’m very thankful for the Veevans in Korea as well as Veevans in other parts of the world as none of them were hesitant in sharing their stories and providing me with important tips and tricks of making the transition of starting a first job. As I felt more involved and part of a community, I found it meaningful to be in Korea and it allowed me to list a whole new set of goals for myself. Not only am I part of the Veeva community, but also a part of an industry that serves a critical role in shaping the world, especially in times of a pandemic. The joy in learning and applying skills at Veeva and the pride that comes from the result of those applications are truly valuable and embed a strong desire for me to keep learning about the pharma and IT industry. I came to believe that no matter where you are if you find your identity and the importance of your character and role, your ‘life graph’ can be on a positive slope for quite some time. This chapter of my life is still in progress and I don’t know what to expect at any moment, but I’m sure my ‘life graph’ will be a work of art in the end.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Veeva.
