31-Year Saga Ends With a Harvard Ph.D

“It’s like a dream. At the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences, we are required to obtain a doctorate degree within 10 years of entering the master’s course. I entered the master’s course in 1990, and since then the college has been sending me ‘threatening letters’ saying that I had to leave if I don’t obtain a doctorate degree by the end of that year. Each time I had to explain my position to the faculty…”

Seo Jin-gyu`s resume is not an ordinary one. From a factory worker at a wig factory, a waitress at a golf course restaurant, her path to the U.S. to work as a maid, a restaurant waitress in New York, two marriages and divorces, joining the U.S. army, obtaining a bachelor’s degree in 14 years and five universities, and entrance into Harvard Graduate School at the age of 42 after becoming a commander in the army….

The road to obtaining a Ph.D. at Harvard University wasn’t easy. While studying at Harvard’s Department of History and East Asian Languages, the theme of her doctorate thesis was “The Effects of Japan in the U.S. Army Stationed in Korea.”

“The professors don’t take any exception to older students. When my thesis was rejected several times, I wondered whether I would really obtain a doctorate degree.”

Seo also mentioned how, while preparing her doctorate thesis, her hepatitis C condition had worsened.

“My health deteriorated to the point that I had to go to the hospital, and the results were dangerous. My condition must have worsened from studying too hard. I wondered whether I might die like this. The doctor said I had to be treated for about a year. But because the treatment procedure was too difficult to undergo, I postponed it because I judged that it would be impossible to be treated and study at the same time. Since I have my degree now, I plan to go to Korea and be treated while taking a rest for about a year.”

When asked what helped her through all the hardship, she answered, “When I was young, it was anger and persistence. The thoughts of ‘Why should I be looked down upon’ and ’I should be better than the others’ sustained me. But when I achieved a certain degree of goal, that anger and stubbornness disappeared. Now I live for my ‘dreams’. That is why I tried to obtain my Ph.D. at this age. These days my readers’ letters, where they tell me that that they have found hope through reading my books, are also great help.”

She has also set plans to write another book. In addition, she has written a draft for an English language novel detailing the hardships suffered by her father during the Japanese occupation period in Korea. She is also preparing a book of her 20 years in the army as well as her 16 years at Harvard University.

Jong sik Kong kong@donga.com