About Bridging Point
Mission
Bridging Point is here for Koreans who feel far from home. We are here to create and nourish community with you. We are here so you can explore & restore your Korean heritage, language, history, and culture. We are here so that you can be more fully who you have always been––a Korean, coming home.
Vision
Bridging Point envisions a world where no son or daughter of Korea feels lost or unwanted. Where all descendents of our Motherland know that they have a place to belong. Where once-hurting Koreans live restored to their own beautiful heritage and are free to flourish as fully, wonderfully Korean.
Values
Gentleness
Many members of the global Korean diaspora have experienced loss, grief, and even trauma. Treating others with gentleness is the starting place for all of our work.
Protection
We understand that for growth to happen, shelter and rest are essential. Bridging Point offers a learning environment that is free from the guilt, shame, and fear that many members of the global Korean diaspora often experience.
Restoration
It is natural to seek the restoration of what was once ours. Bridging Point values reconnections with a lost sense of self, lost community belonging, and lost Korean heritage.
Healing
The loss of a first language or the trauma of being spoken to harshly can leave deep scars in tender places. We understand the connection between language and human development and offer a pathway towards healing and newness in how we speak to one another.
Continuity
We believe that each one of us are deeply connected to the past. That our ancestors’ stories become our stories. That history is still alive––and we are writing it together everyday.
Founder
Meet the Founder
Aerin Park is a South Korean national who has lived in Minnesota since 2011. When she saw the desire in her community’s Korean diaspora for a deeper connection with their heritage, she knew that she wanted to be a part of their movement toward wholeness and reclaiming their Korean identity. She started Bridging Point to help others move closer to themselves and their Motherland, Korea.
Experience
For over a decade, Aerin has served as a Korean language instructor at private and institutional levels. Believing that language is a bridge to the stories, culture, and history of any people, Aerin is passionate about integrating these elements into her classes.
When she is not teaching, you will find Aerin reading Korean history books to her three children, making different varieties of Kimchi with her garden veggies, and of course shoveling the Minnesota snow.
Credentials
Online Korean Language Instructors Program, Korean Language Institute, Yonsei University
Coursework completed toward master’s degree in
Comparative and International Development Education track, College of Education and Human Development, University of Minnesota Twin Cities
M.A in NGO studies (concentration: Global Governance), Graduate School of Public Policy and Civic Engagement, Kyung Hee University
B.A in English (concentration: Translation & interpretation), Handong Global University
B.A in Law (U.S. and International Law), Handong Global University
Minor: Counseling Psychology