I’m one of these uncommon people who has spent most of their lives in foreign countries, surrounded by different people and cultures.

When I was young, I didn’t really have problems with this but as I grew older and my adolescence began, my unreasonable resentment toward everything grew more and more. It was not an easy challenge for me to go through, and it completely changed the way I viewed the world.

I learnt how to give up even If I wanted something so badly, learned to hide my feelings and smile even if I’m not actually happy inside. I believed that my range of choices in my life had significantly narrowed because of my environment and I was consumed by a growing insecurity.

But as my height and thoughts grew, I realized that life is not as bad as I thought it was. I was happy together with God, my family, and friends. And it helped me to find my identity and reasons to continue my life.

I’m Hailey, and my full name is Kim Hyang Gi. Both of my parents are Korean and I turned 16 last November. I have two brothers, who are both attending Yangon Academy.

Thanks to my environment, I can speak 3 languages- Korean, English and Burmese. The way I release my stress is to “fangirl” this Korean boy band called BTS and cover their dances.

The thing I’m not satisfied with myself is my height which is short compared to my friends, but I have since rationalized that this make me more unique. I started attending Thalun International school since last year October and I’m currently in 10th grade with my other 3 friends- Mary, Jonathan, and John. Except for the fact that the school and my house are far away so it takes long time to get there, I really love this school! ☺