CWU music graduate plans to take her career in an entirely new direction

Jennifer Rhee has always been passionate about music, so naturally, she enrolled in the Department of Music at Central Washington University.

The accomplished flautist, who received her degree in music education at last Saturday's commencement ceremony, has been preparing for a musical career ever since she began playing the flute in elementary school.

So, what does she want to do now that she has finished her undergraduate studies? Go to medical school, of course.

"I worked in an ER for a while, and I fell in love with it," said Rhee, who grew up in Puyallup. "My goal is to become a pediatrician or primary care physician someday. I realize that I'm taking a pretty unique path, but I've thought a lot about it, and a career in medicine really suits me."

Within the next few years, Rhee hopes to attend a pre-health post-baccalaureate program tailored toward career-changers. But before she can start making plans for medical school, she plans to take advantage of her music education training to save money for her next adventure.

She has been a student teacher at Dr. Claudia Thomas Middle School in Clover Park since completing her CWU studies in March, and she's hoping to land a full-time teaching position in the fall."I came to Central to be a musician, but I also realized how valuable it would be to learn how to teach," she said, adding that she is eternally grateful to her mentors at CWU, Puyallup High School, and the Tacoma Youth Symphony (TYS), who encouraged her to continue pursuing her dreams of a musical career.

She explained that even though playing music is in her blood, she worried about the potential downfalls of being a professional performer. That realization helped steer Rhee toward music education.

"I love music, but it's pretty daunting to think about doing it as a full-time career," she said. "It's been my lifelong passion, and I'm afraid that if I get frustrated with it, I won't want to do it anymore. But I'm always going to keep flute performance in my back pocket because you never know."

Rhee talks about the strong support network that has followed her around since her youth; people like retired CWU professor Hal Ott, former CWU professor Paul Bain, longtime TYS director Paul-Elliott Cobbs, and CWU interim Professor of Flute Mary Jensen-her high school flute teacher and a lifelong mentor. She credits them, and many others, for pushing her toward her ultimate goal.

"All of my past educators have been such huge cheerleaders for me," Rhee said. "I've always had so much support around me, and that was a big factor in my decision to become a teacher. I'm doing what I'm doing now because of my educators. They all saw something in me that I didn't realize at the time, and I'm so grateful for everything they have done for me."

All of that encouragement and guidance helped Rhee earn the C. Farrell Creative Arts and Research Scholarship in 2020. To be considered for the honor, she spearheaded a woodwind quintet and worked with a student composer to develop a piece that the group planned to perform at schools around the state.

COVID forced the group to shift gears, so they made a video and presented their work virtually at the 2021 SOURCE conference. But Rhee remains proud of what she accomplished alongside her peers.

"That was a big moment for me," she said, adding that she and three of her classmates received free tuition as a result of the scholarship. "Basically, we just went around to different schools and encouraged students to pursue music education. It was a really great experience."

More than a musician

While Rhee spent most of her time in the McIntyre Music Building during her time at Central, she also made a point of getting involved on campus-specifically with the Korean Culture Club (formerly known as the Korean Student Association, or KSA).

She is a proud Korean-American and the daughter of South Korean immigrants, and she wanted to share that pride with her peers in the CWU community.

"I'm very passionate about my cultural identity and advocating for equal representation for Asian-Americans," Rhee said. "That can be hard in a place like Ellensburg, which is very Euro-centric. So, one of my biggest goals at Central was to show others that Asian voices matter."

She found a common purpose with Associate Professor of History Chong Eun Ahn, who also serves as the Korean Culture Club advisor. With Ahn's support, Rhee reinvigorated the student club, which had struggled to retain members since the pandemic.

Now that the membership has stabilized and includes people from other nationalities-not just Koreans-the Korean Culture Club is thriving again. One example was the enormously successful Lunar New Year event the club put on last winter with the help of CWU Dining Services.

"The turnout was huge, and it was really exciting for me to see other Wildcats come out and show their support for Asian culture," Rhee said. "The Asian population at Central is not very prevalent and it's one of the least-celebrated cultures on campus. For me and my peers, it was very encouraging to see that, despite all of the Asian hate going on in the world during COVID, there is also a great deal of acceptance and tolerance."

Rhee plans to explore her cultural heritage even further this summer when she travels to South Korea through the CWU Summer in Seoul education abroad program, a partnership between Central and Ewha Womans University. The program is an outgrowth of the two institutions' existing semester-based bilateral student exchange relationship.

There, she will take classes in Korean language and general education. The rest of the time, she will seek to enrich herself with the history and culture of her motherland.

"This will be my first time experiencing my heritage outside of being with my family," Rhee said. "I hope it helps me get more in touch with my culture because being Korean is such a big part of who I am."