Harrison Auditorium rang with whoops and cheers Saturday night as the East Coast Asian American Student Union Conference participants welcomed the event's keynote speaker, MTV reporter SuChin Pak, to the stage.
Pak, who has co-hosted MTV's pre-shows for the Grammies, MTV Movie Awards and the Sundance Film Festival, was introduced as the embodiment of ECAASU's 2005 theme: "Impact: Our Own Making."
Pak, who is Korean-American, has become a role model for many bicultural Asian-American teens.
"For me growing up, the world was out there, and inside [my home], it was Korea, circa 1950," she said.
Although Pak had been working part-time in television since she was a teenager, she was reluctant to pursue TV as a career and majored in political science at UC Berkeley with the intention of attending law school.
"Television," she said, "was not in the Holy Trinity of Asian professions: doctor, lawyer or miscellaneous business-person."
When asked about her "token" status among Asian-American youth, Pak said that she never expected to be seen as a role model. She was well into her twenties before she could integrate her American and Korean heritage into her identity.
"I've only just began to find my voice," she said.
The turning point in Pak's career with MTV was the network's decision to launch her show about bicultural teens My Life [Translated]. The show has shown that such stories have a place in mainstream American media.
After her talk, dozens of attendees lined up to participate in a question-and-answer session. Questions ranged from racism toward Asian Americans to performing military service.
"Gosh ... I don't know why I thought you guys would ask me about Britney Spears," she said, after being questioned about her stance on North Korea.
"This audience is so much smarter than the one I generally face on MTV," Pak said.
"I'm not nervous when I interview celebrities," she said, adding that she found some of the questions intimidating.
Her responses impressed attendees all the same.
"She gave a very powerful message -- very motivational," College sophomore and ECAASU at Penn board member Annie Oh said.
