Hi! I’m Mo, a high school educator and college advisor with the mission of giving students and families more breathing room in the college admissions process.
I was raised by Korean immigrants, growing up in both Los Angeles and Seoul; though neither of my parents attended college in the US, education was a lifelong value in our household. The high expectations and support I was surrounded by from my relatives, teachers, and mentors gave me the courage to pursue higher education.
I graduated from Harvard College with a BA in History and Literature (you can read about my senior thesis here!) and the Harvard Graduate School of Education with an MEd in the English Language Arts.
With the goal of nurturing our next generation, I began my career in the classroom teaching 10th grade English at Leadership Public Schools before transitioning into college advising with SEO Scholars San Francisco. Over four years, I directly advised over 150 students and families from underserved backgrounds through the college admissions process, with the mission of helping 100% of them pursue a four-year degree with minimal to no debt.
Beyond my work, I love writing and performing poetry, sparring friends at freestyle wrestling practice, tackling new problems at the rock climbing gym, and taking classes at Chabot College for fun! Currently, I have the privilege of serving the city of Hayward as our third Poet Laureate, coordinating performances, workshops, and community events to promote the literary arts for all who call Hayward home.
Although I’ve worked in a range of roles, my passion for cultivating young people’s power, voice, and self-knowledge grounds everything I do!
Currently, I am a member of the following professional organizations:
If you’re looking for a college advisor, here are three reasons I might be a good fit:
- I’ve spent my career with my feet in two different worlds: classroom teaching and college admissions. I know how complex learning is and how to make it relevant, engaging, and enjoyable for students from many walks of life. At the same time, I know what it takes to be college-ready – and I know how to put students in the driver’s seat so they can move forward with intention and direction.
- I don’t just preach good learning habits – I model them. Through college and graduate school, I learned firsthand how to work through academic struggles through better time management, self-regulation, and study habits. To this day, I take community college classes for fun because I believe you have to be a student to better understand students. Whatever challenges my students face, I meet them with compassion, curiosity, and confidence that we can problem-solve together.
- Above all, I bring joy to my work. I believe that in order to do the serious things, you also need to do the silly things. I’m the kind of educator who sneaks in every opportunity for a dad joke, breaks into impromptu dance breaks, and makes custom trading cards of my stuffed animals (which I have 61 of, by the way). I bring my full self to my work so my students can bring their full selves, too!
A small sample of my ever-growing plushie family…and yes, I’ve got a card for you.