Young writer uses flowers as a way to talk about culture, identity in self-published book
Two questions came to mind for Katherine Jeon when she first began working on her book two years ago: where is home, and where does she belong?
“Essentially, it’s a nonfiction book that is meant to serve as both an informative resource and kind of a how-to guide, particularly for young adults, on how to navigate the unique struggles that come with living life as an immigrant, or for anyone coming from a multicultural background,” she says.
Jeon, whose ethnicity is Korean, was born in Chicago and lived there for the first five years of her life before moving to San Francisco, Seoul, and then San Diego. Moving around so much is how her own journey of reflection began, trying to figure out who she was, and asking herself questions about culture and identity. Coming from a family of educators and avid readers, her home was filled with books and her dream has been to become an author, which she’s now achieved by self-publishing this first book, “Roots Beyond Borders: Navigating Identity and Belonging in a Multicultural World.” Using floriography, the symbolic meanings of flowers, she’s divided the book into three main parts that include defining culture, addressing systemic inequalities, and articulating personal values. She started working on it in 2023 and spent a lot of time reading academic journal articles, news articles, and books. She says she’s by no means an expert, but she is a proponent of taking chaotic thoughts and organizing them more coherently in writing as a way to help and support other young people in their own journeys around cultural identity.
Jeon, 18, is a student at Canyon Crest Academy and lives with her mom and brother in Carmel Valley. She’s also an intern at the Policy & Innovation Center in San Diego, tutors young children in reading and math, is a student researcher, a certified yoga instructor, and volunteers teaching yoga to elderly students with dementia at a senior living facility in Torrey Pines. After high school, her plan is to study global health, social work, or something at the intersection of those subjects, and maybe work in the nonprofit sector, as well. She took some time to talk about her book and her interest in attempting to find answers to some of these bigger life questions. (This interview has been edited for length and clarity. )
Q: What compelled you to write about identity in this way, talking to young adults from immigrant and multicultural backgrounds?
A: The biggest thing that inspired me was just my own journey of finding my identity because I grew up as a second-generation immigrant, and it was often kind of confusing for me, especially because I was moving around so much. The question I wanted to answer when I first started working on my book was, “Where is home?” and “Where do I belong?” I knew that many of my friends were also going through the same thing and I felt like it’d be great if there was an accessible resource written by someone who has gone through similar experiences as me and understands where I’m coming from. That’s where “Roots Beyond Borders” was first born. Another big inspiration for me was coming across so many people on the internet or in person who were sharing their own stories and struggles of growing up as people who didn’t necessarily fit into mainstream culture, or the majority, and grappling with the question of “Who am I?” For me, listening to those people who had the courage to be vulnerable definitely encouraged me to be more reflective and transparent about my own journey.
Q: Can you talk a bit about your approach to this topic using floriography? First, what is floriography?
A: Floriography, I would say, is just the language of flowers and what flowers represent because it represents different things for different cultures and countries. To be honest, floriography was definitely an unexpected piece of this puzzle, but I couldn’t imagine the final product without it because it’s been a very interesting and effective way to convey the ideas that I wanted to get across. In the book, I used flowers as almost a metaphor to explain the qualities we can take away and apply in our own lives. I researched a ton about the language of flowers, what they meant to different countries, and interesting facts about different species. I learned so much more about flowers than I was expecting to, but it was a rewarding process.
Q: Why did this language of flowers, as you call it, make sense to you as a way to talk about these lessons in identity?
A: I think I just wanted a clear visual of what I was trying to get across and talk about, and explaining the visual characteristics of flowers kind of made sense for me and it made it clear. I thought it would help people understand what I was talking about.
Q: Can you share a couple of examples of the lessons outlined in your book? And your use of floriography in those lessons?
A: The first thing that I can think of is dandelion. In the first chapter of my book, it was focused on food and cuisine and how we can use that as a pathway to discovering our own cultural acceptance and identity. Dandelions are edible and they have different uses across cultures, so I explain the cultural significance of them and also how to respect different cuisines. Another example I can think of is that I used in roses and their kind of stereotypical meaning of love. This is in a chapter where I talk about stereotypes and prejudice about immigrants. I said that they can mean so many other things to different cultures, so it’s kind of breaking that (love and romance) stereotype and expectation.
Q: You also do a lot of work volunteering in ways that are focused on helping other people, particularly as it relates to your interests in social justice issues. How did this path begin for you?
A: This book, for me, is kind of a culmination and intersects with my interest in sociology and health equity because it brings a lot of those societal issues that are relevant today into light. I’m interested in how our society and like our neighborhoods can shape, not just our physical health, but our mental health, as well. Our access to community support, access to healthy food, to a gym, all of that. For me, living in different cities and in the suburbs, and seeing how different community levels of support can influence our health, really kind of sparked that interest in social justice.
Q: Why is this kind of work important to you?
A: It’s just thinking about how can I make the world a better place. That sounds a bit cliche, but that really drives me to do a lot of the work that I do and makes me feel like I’m doing something meaningful that can impact a lot of people.
Q: Has any of what’s been going on in the news about immigration policy, law, and detainments influenced your work on this book? On what you wanted to share with people?
A: Yeah. Honestly, what’s been going on right now, especially in this political climate, made me a little bit hesitant to even publish this book because I thought there would be a lot of contention around these topics. For me, it just came from a place of empathy and wanting to help other people, so I knew that it would be kind of risky putting this out in the world right now, but it was a risk that I was willing to take.
Q: What kind of influence has your childhood had on the way that you understand the world around you, and your work volunteering, researching, and writing?
A: Just being around so many different cultures has really instilled in me the importance of respect for other cultures and from people from all different backgrounds. My intention with this book was definitely to come from a place of empathy and respect. It’s been refreshing seeking out different perspectives and reading books written by authors of different backgrounds. That really inspired me to reflect on my journey. I was born in America, but we speak in Korean in our house. The question of belonging and the conception of these cultures was really confusing for the first few years of my life, but when I started to journal and reflect and ask those difficult questions to myself, I feel like I started adding a little bit of clarity in who I was and that it was OK not to be sure of where I belong. That you can belong across multiple cultures.
Q: What do you hope your book is able to say to other young people?
A: I wrote this to spark meaningful conversations around culture and identity, and hopefully encourage and facilitate that process of personal reflection. I think that tends to be especially difficult for those growing up between multiple cultures. So, yeah, my biggest goal was to empower young adults with the opportunity to really think deeply about where they come from and what that means to them, to give them the space to reflect on their identity and the confidence to tell their story, and just to make them feel seen and understood by someone close to their age.
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