Mirror Images: “Quantum Leaping” to Share a Service Spirit
Capt. Kenny Loui, CAP
Professor of Police Administration
Catholic University of Daegu
Theorizing that one could time travel within his own lifetime, Dr. Sam Beckett stepped into the Quantum Leap accelerator and vanished. He awoke to find himself trapped in the past, facing mirror images that were not his own, and driven by an unknown force to change history for the better. And so, Dr. Beckett finds himself leaping from life to life, striving to put right what once went wrong, and hoping each time that his next leap will be the leap home.
– Opening Narration to Quantum Leap (1989 – 1993)
And so goes the opening narration to the science-fiction television show Quantum Leap. No, I don’t time travel, nor do I look like a different person every time I look in a mirror. But like the main character from my favorite 90’s TV show, I’ve found myself “leaping” for nearly a decade between two countries and in so doing, unexpectedly touching one life after the other.
I was born and raised in San Francisco and practically lived there all my life. I had no interest in going overseas for work or study, and my life goals weren’t all that complicated: graduate from college, find a job, get married, and live “the simple life” … in my hometown of San Francisco. To my surprise, my simple life plan became a lot more complicated after graduating from college …
In 2006, I declined admission offers to several law schools to instead study abroad in Japan, which was my first long-term venture away from home. And what was to be a foreshadowing of things to come, a majority of the students living in the university dormitory were from South Korea. Thus, not only did I learn about Japan from my one year abroad, I learned about Korea as well from my new friends. Due to my newly piqued interest in Korean culture and society, I applied for a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship and in the summer of 2008, I found myself on a plane to South Korea to begin work as an English Teaching Assistant (ETA) at a high school in Pohang.
Leap 1: Brotherhood
As a Fulbright ETA, I enjoyed the time I spent with my students in and outside of the classroom, learning about their interests, motivations, and dreams. Overall, my year in Pohang was an enriching and memorable experience. But not only did I find myself being a mentor to my students, I also took on the role of “형” (older brother) to my homestay brother, who was a middle school student at the time. We developed a special connection as a result of our shared experiences and hardships. In brief, he was a victim of bullying and school violence, as was I when I was his age. We had many conversations in which I shared my experiences with him—and his parents—motivating him to “be strong” and “never give up,” while encouraging his parents to directly address the situation with his teachers and the parents of the bullies. With each passing month, my homestay brother’s frowns gradually transformed into smiles. In the end, you could say that despite our different family and cultural backgrounds, it was our common adversities that brought the two of us closer together and solidified our relationship as brothers.
Leap 2: Being a Friend
After the conclusion of my Fulbright ETA grant year, I returned to San Francisco, but it was a return that would be short-lived. After only a few months home, I was back in Korea, this time around as a student in Seoul. Needless to say, when my classes and homework were done, I found that I had quite a bit of free time on my hands, so I once again took up what I seemed to do best—being a friend and making people smile. Whether it was assuming the role of cupid and helping a young couple with relationship troubles, cheering up a taxi driver who had a bad day, giving words of encouragement to a group of teenagers unsure of their future, or becoming a “big brother” to children in a disability center, I found myself—sometimes by choice, and sometimes by accident—doing my part to brighten other people’s days and giving them hope for the future.
Leap 3: The Leap Home
Yet again, I returned stateside, this time to pursue graduate studies at Stanford University, but my plans changed as I soon discovered my father had cancer—something that my family had kept secret from me so as not to, in my mom’s words, “hold you back from fulfilling your dreams.” In the end, I withdrew from graduate school to spend time with my father and lend him emotional and spiritual support during this difficult period in his life. It was during this time that I joined the Civil Air Patrol, the U.S. Air Force Auxiliary, as an instructor and mentor for cadets at a squadron in San Francisco. My time in the Civil Air Patrol, combined with my experiences in Korea, solidified my decision to ultimately pursue a career in teaching and youth mentoring.
Leap 4: Smiles and Dreams
As my father’s health gradually improved, I began my job hunt and eventually accepted an offer to teach in the Department of Police Administration at the Catholic University of Daegu. In addition to my work at the university, I served as an advisor for the Alumni-Youth Leadership Project (AYLP), a youth diplomacy and leadership program co-sponsored by the Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Embassy in Seoul. AYLP is a pioneering public diplomacy program that brings together high school students from across the Republic of Korea and utilizes the talents and support of USG-Asia sponsored exchange program alumni and several U.S. Embassy officers as guest speakers, who help expose the student participants to Korea’s national issues, international affairs, and public service.
The 2012 AYLP program ended the same way as previous years’ programs: with students’ final presentations, farewell speeches, and tearful goodbyes. Although I have participated in AYLP several times, either as a team leader or as an advisor, the 2012 program is particularly memorable to me due to a conversation I had with one of the students as we bid each other farewell …
- Student: “Kenny, what is your dream?”
- Me: “To make other people smile.”
- Student: “Congratulations! You just fulfilled your dream. I’m smiling now.”
Leap 5 and Beyond: Home is Where the Heart is
As the old saying goes, “Home is where the heart is.” If that is true, then my heart belongs to two countries: the United States, my homeland, and the Republic of Korea, a country that I have come to regard as my second home and a people who have become akin to my extended family. For the past eight years, I’ve more or less left my dream of a simple life behind, continually “leaping” between my two homes across the Pacific Ocean, while sharing a “spirit of service” with others and trying to positively impact the lives of everyone that I meet, whether they are my students, colleagues, friends, family, or even total strangers. With each “leap” I take, I switch between several “mirror images”—a teacher, a student, a community volunteer, a youth mentor, a friend, a brother, and a son of two countries. Regardless of which of these multiple roles I take on, and which of my two homes I reside in, I’ll always be me … someone who tries to make others smile.
Brief Bio
Kenny Loui is an assistant professor of police administration at the Catholic University of Daegu and a captain in the Civil Air Patrol, U.S. Air Force Auxiliary. Professor Loui is currently a doctoral candidate at Nova Southeastern University and is working on completing a Ph.D. in criminal justice with a specialization in juvenile justice. In 2011, he was awarded the U.S. President’s Call to Service Award (Lifetime Volunteer Service Award) for his community service and volunteer efforts in the United States and the Republic of Korea.
Mirror Images: “Quantum Leaping” to Share a Service Spirit
Capt. Kenny Loui, CAP
Professor of Police Administration
Catholic University of Daegu
Theorizing that one could time travel within his own lifetime, Dr. Sam Beckett stepped into the Quantum Leap accelerator and vanished. He awoke to find himself trapped in the past, facing mirror images that were not his own, and driven by an unknown force to change history for the better. And so, Dr. Beckett finds himself leaping from life to life, striving to put right what once went wrong, and hoping each time that his next leap will be the leap home.
– Opening Narration to Quantum Leap (1989 – 1993)
And so goes the opening narration to the science-fiction television show Quantum Leap. No, I don’t time travel, nor do I look like a different person every time I look in a mirror. But like the main character from my favorite 90’s TV show, I’ve found myself “leaping” for nearly a decade between two countries and in so doing, unexpectedly touching one life after the other.
I was born and raised in San Francisco and practically lived there all my life. I had no interest in going overseas for work or study, and my life goals weren’t all that complicated: graduate from college, find a job, get married, and live “the simple life” … in my hometown of San Francisco. To my surprise, my simple life plan became a lot more complicated after graduating from college …
In 2006, I declined admission offers to several law schools to instead study abroad in Japan, which was my first long-term venture away from home. And what was to be a foreshadowing of things to come, a majority of the students living in the university dormitory were from South Korea. Thus, not only did I learn about Japan from my one year abroad, I learned about Korea as well from my new friends. Due to my newly piqued interest in Korean culture and society, I applied for a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship and in the summer of 2008, I found myself on a plane to South Korea to begin work as an English Teaching Assistant (ETA) at a high school in Pohang.
Leap 1: Brotherhood
As a Fulbright ETA, I enjoyed the time I spent with my students in and outside of the classroom, learning about their interests, motivations, and dreams. Overall, my year in Pohang was an enriching and memorable experience. But not only did I find myself being a mentor to my students, I also took on the role of “형” (older brother) to my homestay brother, who was a middle school student at the time. We developed a special connection as a result of our shared experiences and hardships. In brief, he was a victim of bullying and school violence, as was I when I was his age. We had many conversations in which I shared my experiences with him—and his parents—motivating him to “be strong” and “never give up,” while encouraging his parents to directly address the situation with his teachers and the parents of the bullies. With each passing month, my homestay brother’s frowns gradually transformed into smiles. In the end, you could say that despite our different family and cultural backgrounds, it was our common adversities that brought the two of us closer together and solidified our relationship as brothers.
Leap 2: Being a Friend
After the conclusion of my Fulbright ETA grant year, I returned to San Francisco, but it was a return that would be short-lived. After only a few months home, I was back in Korea, this time around as a student in Seoul. Needless to say, when my classes and homework were done, I found that I had quite a bit of free time on my hands, so I once again took up what I seemed to do best—being a friend and making people smile. Whether it was assuming the role of cupid and helping a young couple with relationship troubles, cheering up a taxi driver who had a bad day, giving words of encouragement to a group of teenagers unsure of their future, or becoming a “big brother” to children in a disability center, I found myself—sometimes by choice, and sometimes by accident—doing my part to brighten other people’s days and giving them hope for the future.
Leap 3: The Leap Home
Yet again, I returned stateside, this time to pursue graduate studies at Stanford University, but my plans changed as I soon discovered my father had cancer—something that my family had kept secret from me so as not to, in my mom’s words, “hold you back from fulfilling your dreams.” In the end, I withdrew from graduate school to spend time with my father and lend him emotional and spiritual support during this difficult period in his life. It was during this time that I joined the Civil Air Patrol, the U.S. Air Force Auxiliary, as an instructor and mentor for cadets at a squadron in San Francisco. My time in the Civil Air Patrol, combined with my experiences in Korea, solidified my decision to ultimately pursue a career in teaching and youth mentoring.
Leap 4: Smiles and Dreams
As my father’s health gradually improved, I began my job hunt and eventually accepted an offer to teach in the Department of Police Administration at the Catholic University of Daegu. In addition to my work at the university, I served as an advisor for the Alumni-Youth Leadership Project (AYLP), a youth diplomacy and leadership program co-sponsored by the Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Embassy in Seoul. AYLP is a pioneering public diplomacy program that brings together high school students from across the Republic of Korea and utilizes the talents and support of USG-Asia sponsored exchange program alumni and several U.S. Embassy officers as guest speakers, who help expose the student participants to Korea’s national issues, international affairs, and public service.
The 2012 AYLP program ended the same way as previous years’ programs: with students’ final presentations, farewell speeches, and tearful goodbyes. Although I have participated in AYLP several times, either as a team leader or as an advisor, the 2012 program is particularly memorable to me due to a conversation I had with one of the students as we bid each other farewell …
Leap 5 and Beyond: Home is Where the Heart is
As the old saying goes, “Home is where the heart is.” If that is true, then my heart belongs to two countries: the United States, my homeland, and the Republic of Korea, a country that I have come to regard as my second home and a people who have become akin to my extended family. For the past eight years, I’ve more or less left my dream of a simple life behind, continually “leaping” between my two homes across the Pacific Ocean, while sharing a “spirit of service” with others and trying to positively impact the lives of everyone that I meet, whether they are my students, colleagues, friends, family, or even total strangers. With each “leap” I take, I switch between several “mirror images”—a teacher, a student, a community volunteer, a youth mentor, a friend, a brother, and a son of two countries. Regardless of which of these multiple roles I take on, and which of my two homes I reside in, I’ll always be me … someone who tries to make others smile.
Brief Bio
Kenny Loui is an assistant professor of police administration at the Catholic University of Daegu and a captain in the Civil Air Patrol, U.S. Air Force Auxiliary. Professor Loui is currently a doctoral candidate at Nova Southeastern University and is working on completing a Ph.D. in criminal justice with a specialization in juvenile justice. In 2011, he was awarded the U.S. President’s Call to Service Award (Lifetime Volunteer Service Award) for his community service and volunteer efforts in the United States and the Republic of Korea.