By Daniel
The start of my gap year felt gray. Not gray in color, but gray in spirit.
Last fall, I was supposed to enter Duke as a part of Duke’s NROTC battalion. Even though I wanted everything to play out perfectly, my life took an unexpected turn. Before graduating high school, I had a sports injury that ended up partially tearing my right ACL and two of my ankle ligaments.
I was no stranger to injuries. Throughout school, I already experienced various sports related injuries that led me to get multiple surgeries.
However, I knew that my recent injuries carried more weight than my previous ones. They had the potential to halt or even cut off my path of serving the country as a Navy doctor and helping wounded soldiers.
Interestingly, this injury did not leave me as distraught as I thought it would. Instead, I was filled with a weird sense of numbness.
I was genuinely grateful to have been accepted into the Blue Devil Family, but some parts of me were detached from the excitement that should come with it. Through my past experiences, I knew that I could not dwell on the current situation. So I focused on moving forward.
Moving forward wasn’t anything dramatic. I just had an emotionless drive to push through the obstacle because I knew it was necessary.
In search of my next steps, I came across the Duke Gap Year Program.
I was always interested in the Korean language and culture, as my heritage is from there. From August 2025 to February 2026, I studied the Korean language and culture through Yonsei Korean Language Institute’s Korean Language Program in Seoul. These several months proved to be one of the most transformative experiences of my life.
Life in Seoul was very different from the monotone routine I imagined. I thought my days would be repeats of just waking up, eating, going to KLI, and studying. Instead, my days were filled with a plethora of new experiences.
The Yonsei KLI classes gave us opportunities to be more engaged in the Korean language through interactive projects and communicative activities. My Korean language skills were improving day by day, especially my grammar and writing skills. By the end of my First course, I was confident enough to participate in a Korean Poetry Competition, where I earned an award.
The Yonsei Korean Language Institute was a hotspot for people who share a love for the Korean language and culture. Surrounded by people from all over the world who shared my interests, I started exploring Korea’s historical landmarks more with my friends. As time flew by, I could feel myself slowly slipping out of the emotional numbness that followed me from home.
My stay in Korea not only grew my love for learning the language, but it also opened my sight to a new area of interest. I explored a couple of medical facilities and numerous medical museums, like the museum of medicine in Daehan Medical Center(One of the oldest modern hospital buildings in Korea). Additionally, I observed emerging medical technologies by attending an expo for medical equipment called KIMES (Korea International Medical & Hospital Equipment Show). There, I was able to interact with various medical technology companies like INBODY.
Learning the history of ancient & modern Korean medicine and examining the field of medical tech deepened my passion for medicine. Further, it solidified my mission to commit myself to the field of medicine and help patients navigate through their struggles.
By the end of my stay in Seoul, my life seemed to have regained most of its colors. I progressed through advanced rehab and began jogging without pain.
Looking back, I learned that time heals, but only under certain conditions. Meaningful healing comes from spending time with the right people and having a strong purpose that keeps us moving.
Sometimes life forces you to let go of the future you have painted for yourself. In the beginning, you may feel like the color is starting to fade away from the canvas of life. Fortunately for us, this also makes space for the undiscovered hues that come later in our lives to create a much more vivid future.
