Jensen Dye, a junior from Utah majoring in Hawaiian studies, is trying to help his mother, who was adopted from Korea, reconnect with her birth parents and her cultural heritage.
Dye said he has felt spiritual promptings to get more involved in his mother’s native culture. “I feel like Heavenly Father’s been telling me I need to learn the language and connect with my roots because I’ll need to use it in life later on.”
The first person Dye said he met at BYU–Hawaii was a student from Suwon, the town his mother was found as a newborn. “I felt that was the first prompting Heavenly Father gave to start connecting with my mom’s family and culture… He wants us to know our ancestors. Reuniting with our families and being eternally connected to each other is important in the gospel.”
He said, “What I’m trying to do is connect more with my mom through learning and claiming our Korean heritage. I know it’s a long stretch, but with DNA testing and being able to learn [Korean], I feel like it will make it easier for me to connect.
“What I realize too is sometimes things don’t go your way, but you have to make the best of your circumstances. Even if we don’t find her birth family, we have hope we’re going to connect with other Koreans.”
Dye said his mother is really interested in the culture, specifically the food and the clothing. “I’m sure she wants to know who her family is, but it’s not her whole goal. She still has us and she loves us. We’re grateful for her.”
Dye said if he had to describe his mom in a couple of words he would say she’s a miracle worker. “She’ll turn any bad situation into a very good one… She’s a tender mercy in our lives. She’s a fantastic mom and she’s humble. She’s a wonderful woman. If you’re having a bad day, she’ll turn it around and make it better.”
If he could say one thing to his mom’s birth family, Dye said it would be they don’t hold her birth family guilty. “We don’t hate you, we don’t hold any resentment towards you. We just would like to get to know you, we appreciate you, and we pray for you every day.”
Dye acknowledged he doesn’t know the full story, which he said is part of the reason he’s so motivated to learn Korean and eventually visit his mother’s birth land. “We’re not just thinking about ourselves. It’s more than just us.”
His mother’s story
Dye said his mother was found as a week-old baby abandoned at a bus station in Suwon, South Korea on March 2, 1973. “From what I can read from the documents, a passerby out of the kindness of his or her own heart picked her up and took her to the city hall.” Dye said city hall arranged for her to be sent to the orphanage, Ankara B.H. and then the adoption agency, Holt’s Children Services. After spending a few months in the care of a foster family, Dye said his mother was adopted on June 26, 1973, four months after she was given care at the orphanage.
“We don’t know anything. All we know is she was abandoned. Like I said, we don’t hold any hate or resentment. We’re just grateful that we’re here. We’re thankful for the foster family, the passerby, everyone who contributed to get us to where we are today. My mom is grateful for her adopted family. They’re a wonderful family. The Lord has definitely blessed my mom.”
Dye’s mother’s thoughts
His mother Cindi Horton, whose Korean name is Jee Yung Hee, said she feels Dye was meant to come to BYUH for many reasons, one of them being so he could learn more about his Korean heritage and meet people who share it.
She said, “Being adopted from Korea and growing up as a little girl in America with an American family, people would always ask me if I ever wanted to find my birth parents. Of course I did, but I was abandoned at a bus station so I always believed it would never happen and it would be an impossible task. Now with all the DNA testing going on, it gives people like me some hope… It has been so fun to see Jensen get excited about helping me do DNA testing to maybe someday find a close relative.”
Dye said his mother has done DNA tests with AncestryDNA, 23andMe, and FamilyTree DNA. Through doing the tests, Dye said they’ve matched with someone who could possibly be a first or second cousin, who was also adopted from Korea.
Hyewon Pak, a junior from California majoring in hospitality and tourism management, said she thinks it’s sad how many children who have been adopted by families from other countries can struggle to reconnect with their roots in Korea.
She explained when Dye’s mother was found as a newborn, they didn’t have things like DNA tests and data to identify children and find their families. “Korea’s a tiny country but to look for one child, it’s not easy… Once you lost your child, to get them back again could have been very difficult compared to today.”
She said these children end up with the police and in foster care and eventually, like in Horton’s case, could be adopted.
“There are so many adopted Korean people in America looking for their biological parents and trying to get their identity back. You don’t hardly see that in America. American kids get adopted... by Americans. But a lot of Asian kids will be adopted to foreign countries.”
According to Dye, there’s not a lot of awareness of DNA testing in Korea. “I don’t think too many birth families know it’s an option. If they do, they might not know how to go about it. What I’ve heard is in Korea you can go to police stations and have your DNA extracted. They’ll keep it for 10 years and they’ll try to match it up with whoever you’re looking for.”
Dye said he and his mom are hoping to go to Korea one day soon to try it and see if it works. Dye said knowing the language will make it easier to ask questions and communicate when they get there.
Horton said, “I have been blessed to have been adopted to such a wonderful and loving family. I think it is a natural feeling to [want to] find out more about your birth family and story. I am excited to visit my birth land for the second time and think it will be such a meaningful trip. I want to be able to share it with my son Jensen…
“I pray that trying to find my birth family and learning more about the Korean culture will be a blessing and something I will cherish forever.”
Discovering himself at BYUH
Dye said being a member of the BYUH Korean Club has really helped him connect with the culture. He said when he first joined he was nervous because he’s only half-Korean and wasn’t sure how people would react when they found out.
He shared an experience that deeply touched him with his friend, Junsim Bae, who assured him he was family as they ate Korean barbecue together.
Bae, who is a BYU-Pathway student from Korea, said she moved here because her husband is attending BYUH. Bae said she and Dye met at a club activity. “While talking with him, I learned that his mom is from Korea and she was born in Suwon. This particularly caught my interest since I served part of mission in Suwon.
“He seemed to want to know more about Korea, so I thought he would like it if I gave him a Korean name. I tried to make a Korean name that sounded like Jensen. So I created the name 'Jinsoo,' and then looked for meanings for 'Jin' and 'soo'. I chose my favorite meanings: 'Jin' for truth and or 'soo' for excellent.”
Jee is his mother's surname, which Dye said he claims as part of his Korean name.
Bae said, “I chose this name because I thought he could become excellent in understanding truth. I love how he actually uses the name.”
Horton added she thinks it's a blessing Dye has joined the BYUH Korean Club to learn more about their family’s culture. “He has been a positive example to me wanting to learn and embrace more of my culture from where I was born…
“It is fun he is trying Korean food and he is loving most of what he tries… I hope one day I can take Jensen to Korea to maybe visit some of [the friends he’s made] and learn more about my family and where I came from.”
Dye said, “I enjoy how nice and generous Koreans are as people… They love their culture and they’re not afraid to be who they are.”
Dye said he’s always seen himself as Asian-American but now wants to more fully connect with his Korean brothers and sisters and the heritage they all share. “I love spicy food now, homemade kimchi and K-pop… but what makes me most proud to be Korean is not only the heritage but also what they’re trying to do now. They want peace, peace for the world, cohabitation, co-existence.
“And what is BYU–Hawaii trying to do? They’re taking all these same concepts and trying to achieve the same thing. We have all of these people from different cultures coexisting and trying to live peacefully with each other the way the Savior wants. We maintain our uniqueness, but we’re united in the gospel, in our love for culture, and as children of God.
“When I was younger, I never really had a personal connection with Heavenly Father, but as I’ve gotten older… I realize He knows our circumstances and situations in life. Going through this journey of wanting to learn Korean and embrace the culture… I think it’s Heavenly Father’s way of saying, ‘I love you,’ and helping me discover and enjoy who I am. I’m not just Korean. I’m Jensen Dye. I’m Jee Jinsoo. I’m a child of Heavenly Parents.”
Writer: Emi Wainwright