Madison Jay
Madison Jay was born in Korea in 1995 and was adopted to Arizona to a two-parent household with an older brother, who is also a Korean adoptee. Her parents were never shy in exposing her and her brother to Korean culture and read them books about adoption or Korean American identity as well as sending them to Korean heritage camp. As she went through high school and college, people knew her as the adoptee and would question her Koreanness. She didn’t speak the language, eat Korean food, or even know the latest K-Pop band causing her understanding of beauty and self to become unclear.
Going to Korea to teach English was not part of Madison’s life plan because she didn’t feel ready to open that can of worms and was scared of how she would be viewed. But she came to realize she needed to escape Arizona and have a conversation with herself to confront her own identity. As Madison lives her life in Korea, she hopes to continue to experience Korea fully and to put out good energy.