Inseong Hong, a senior studying business communications with a minor in human resources management, has found her stride in leadership at Purdue. Over the past few years, Inseong has been busy taking advantage of her time on campus by fulfilling many leadership roles.
In 2021, Inseong served as the vice president of internal affairs for alpha Kappa Delta Phi (aKDPhi), an Asian interest sorority that promotes the pillars of sisterhood, leadership, scholarship, service and Asian awareness to all members. She later served as the sorority’s president in 2022. Inseong says that she struggled to find representation growing up in the Midwest and was pleasantly surprised by the Asian population and strong community she found at Purdue.
As a member of aKDPhi Inseong founded the sorority’s Mental Health Action Committee, which raises awareness for mental health and helps provide resources and events for members. This was a move that meant a great deal for Inseong to establish. She mentioned that mental health disproportionately affects Asian cultures because there is a stigma around it in the Asian and Asian American communities. One of the main missions MHAC has is to reflect on what Asian cultural values may prevent someone in the community from seeking help. MHAC holds roundtables where members can hold discussions and write letters to their future selves to de-stress from their responsibilities. Inseong finds her work on this project has been extremely rewarding as she believes that putting herself out there for a good cause motivates her to be a better leader.
In 2021, Inseong also served as the vice president of diversity and inclusion for the National Multicultural Greek Council (NMGC). The NMGC provides a forum for fraternities and sororities to promote multicultural diversity awareness in their local communities. Inseong says that working with NMGC has been a great experience in learning how to collaborate with the many people and cultures on campus.
Inseong was also an undergraduate student ambassador for the Asian American and Asian Resource and Cultural Center (AAARCC) in 2020 and 2021. She says that she is so grateful for AAARCC and the connection she made with Pamela Sari, director of the AAARCC. Sari was an inspiration to Inseong with her level of professionalism and making meaningful experiences for students. The AAARCC provides educational, support and integration resources for the local community. It is a great source for students who are interested in learning more about the rich diversity that we have on campus and helps to build a sense of connectedness for all those who are seeking community.
In 2022, Inseong also served as the vice president of internal affairs for the Korean American Student Association (KASA) and today serves as a senior advisor. Serving the greater Asian/Asian-American community at Purdue, KASA provides opportunities for Korean American students to get connected and learn more about Korean culture without expecting to understand Korean.
It is not all business with Inseong - she likes to have fun as well. In addition to the many leadership positions she has held, Inseong has served as the Korean Football Team manager and the training team director for the ADVNT dance team. Dance is one of Inseong’s greatest passions and has helped her to de-stress during the past few years. She says that feeling the music and moving is really fun and she loves the people that she dances with. ADVNT is a pre-professional dance organization at Purdue that exists to nurture and promote growth for students in dance.
Inseong also speaks highly of the Asian Student Union Board (ASUB) at Purdue. She encourages anyone who is looking to network with others in the Asian community on campus to connect with ASUB. ASUB holds specific events for Asian students that Inseong did not expect to find here. Because of this, she has met many people with different backgrounds and various identities and gives all the credit to the great work ASUB does.
To build her impact, Inseong tries to make sure that she is genuine with her intentions.
She purposefully represents herself as both a friend and a college student and is always thinking about what she can do to enhance the experiences of others. Inseong enjoys working with others and building upon a vision together. She likes to think “big picture” and says working with and connecting with a lot of people helps to ground her.
To build leadership and professional development skills, Inseong tries to take on new challenges.
“I like to put myself out there and intentionally make myself uncomfortable in a way that will help me grow,” Inseong says. “To truly grow with big aspirations, you must get out of your comfort zone.”
Inseong gets out of her comfort zone by participating in a lot of interviews and career fairs. The experience of speaking with professionals helps her learn how to connect with them in a meaningful way. Inseong has developed tips and tricks for career fairs, which include researching companies before meeting with them. She also suggests that students check out the Center for Career Opportunities (CCO), which provides great resources such as resume help, resume workshops and mock interviews.
Even though she has held a lot of different leadership positions, Inseong says that listening to people in your community will make a difference – even if there are still deadlines to meet. While leadership can be overwhelming and intimidating, Inseong says one way to overcome this is to remind herself that she is helping others.
Inseong recalls the community she found here when she arrived several years ago felt warm and welcome. She has now made it her mission and purpose to let incoming freshmen know that there is someone at Purdue who truly and genuinely cares for them.
If you want to add Inseong to your network, connect with Inseong on LinkedIn.