Songhyeon is a sophomore at NAI—quiet, steady, likes gummies and instant noodles. Simple, underestimated, but always enough. She pays attention. Growing up near a coal plant, she saw more gas stations than grocery stores. As a kid, she didn’t question it. Later, she realized fresh food and clean air weren’t rights but privileges. She doesn’t just watch. She plants in ignored spaces, turning vacant lots into food sources. She’s working on a solar panel project at YCAC at Phipps because she remembers wiping coal dust off windowsills and breathing air that never felt clean. When she’s not covered in dirt, she’s cooking—experimenting with healthy recipes, some edible, some not—or doodling, or spinning a flag as a color guard. Because hunger isn’t theoretical. Neither is pollution. And neither is her plan to change both.
Songhyeon K
Youth Ambassador
Hometown: Busan, PA