Students from across the country as well as from Canada and South Korea will flock to Malibu to attend the largest ethnic-specific student conference in the United States. The 24th annual Korean American Students Conference (KASCON) will take place March 5 and 6 at Pepperdine.
KASCON originated at Princeton University in 1987 and has since served to provide Korean-American students with opportunities to network together and engage in dialogue with leading professionals in a variety of fields. The ultimate goal according to the official Web site is “to inspire and empower its participants so that they leave with the motivation to advance the Korean American community.”
Since the conference has taken place on the East Coast for the past few years Jeannie Park and Hana Kim associate directors of KASCON were passionate about bringing the conference west so that Pepperdine and other California students could experience all the event has to offer.
“We wanted to give KASCON a little of the Pepperdine spirit Hana said. We wanted to bring the elements of service purpose and leadership and show students that jobs are about more than just making money. We thought that KASCON would really benefit from coming to Pepperdine.”
KASCON aims to unify and inspire Korean-American students through a series of empowering seminars workshops and networking events. Prominent Korean-Americans in a variety of fields— from non-profits to top business firms— will come to inform and motivate young people offering advice to students pursuing careers in their fields of choice.
“It’s a bunch of very prestigious Korean Americans who come to speak to our generation because their future is our generation Park said. It’s a really great way to network because all of the universities in the United States know about it. You get to meet a bunch of different students from all over the United States and you have the option of possibly seeing career choices that you want to go for.”
“They’ll speak about what they do and how young people can get involved basically to have an impact on American society executive director of KASCON Daniel Kim said.
In addition to opportunities for networking and career-building, provided sessions will expose students to issues pertinent to the Korean-American community, and will promote dialogue on those issues within discussion groups. These topics will include Korean-American representation in the U.S. Census, the situation in North Korea and even human trafficking as it relates to Koreans.
About half of our sessions are dedicated to issues— the other half are career workshops and that’s where networking comes in Hana said.
The conference will span two days, lasting from 1 to 11 p.m. March 5 and 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. March 6. It will include networking events, seminars and workshops, shared meals and entertainment. Local Korean-American performers will showcase their talents in the Caf on Friday night in a relaxed, coffee-house atmosphere. Performers will include acoustic musicians, a stand-up comedian, and a pop-rock band.
According to Hana, the overarching message of KASCON is that endless possibilities are available to students who have the drive and passion to pursue their goals.
We’re trying to say ‘you can do whatever you want’ especially in this age and time. If you have a passion go for it Park said regarding the message she hopes will greatly enrich attendees.
Daniel emphasized that it is not a conference solely for Korean Americans” and that all students interested in “broadening their perspectives” are welcome to attend. Speakers attending will consist of Korean Americans and non-Koreans alike and diversity is very much encouraged.
“My own personal goal was to try and target non-Koreans because this country is made up of diversity Choi said, and expressed his desire to see cultual barriers broken. We’re trying to build that bridge between different races and nationalities and what not and to show them all that the possibilities are basically endless.”
Park hopes that each attendee whatever his or her cultural background will find personal significance in the event and will be inspired to pursue their goals and passions.
“I really want people to do what they’re passionate about doing— and sometimes their passions can’t always be the right thing but hopefully it will lead them to no longer be wandering or hopeless or feeling down Park said. A lot of the speakers were self-starters and anyone can be a self-starter. Even if it means changing one person’s life or viewpoint we’d be more than happy.”
For an hour-by-hour schedule of events as well as a list of confirmed speakers visit the KASCON Web site at www.kascon.com.
