Growing up with an elderly grandmother and a disabled mother, Sandra H.K. Park constantly battled to keep equilibrium between the past and the future, the Korean culture and American culture. Although she attended very diverse schools, she found it hard to relate to her peers due to an almost non-existent Korean student body. Maturation helped her realize that ignorance of one's and another's culture results in cultural barriers. On a quest to break down her own barrier, Sandra turned to her grandmother for knowledge of the Korean culture and history. Unbeknownst to her, her grandmother had planted a seed of passion for history at a young age. It wouldn't be until her senior year, after years of bending to her family's wishes for her to pursue a career in medicine, that she finally straightened her back and decided to pursue history. In the fall of 2009, Sandra will matriculate at the University of Chicago, where her passion will flourish in fertile soil.