Jan 4, 2017
Episode 144- Jae
Merm @HLKglass...Happy Little Korean
Jae was born on November
23, 1988 in Gyeongsangnam-do, South Korea and adopted out of Seoul
when she was just a few months old. I don't know much about my
birth parents, other than her birth Mom was 23, Dad was 25 and they
were not married. In Korean culture it is not uncommon to be
disowned by your family if you have a child out of wedlock. So
instead of living a life of uncertainty, Jae, as an infant, was
flown into JFK airport on a military aircraft and escorted by a
USAF officerafter being adopted.
She grew
up in a small town near Syracuse, N.Y. and was really
involved in extracurriculars and the arts, but lacrosse was became
her main focus. She attended Lacrosse camps at Syracuse University
and Duke University in North Carolina every summer and played on an
elite traveling team. By her Senior year of High school she was
forced to sit out the entire season due to a grade 3 ankle sprain.
This injury ultimately ended her career and dream of
playing collegiate level lacrosse. She attended college
and finished out her freshman year and left school for good.
Dealing with a serious blow to her spirit she decided to take a
completely different path after and went to see an Air Force
recruiter. She left for the military on December 4th
, and due to her
inate leadership skills she was elected to be the Dorm Chief of my
basic training flight, graduated school and became a fighter and
heavy aircraft mechanic.
Jae's orders took her to Elmendorf Air Force
Base in Anchorage, Alaska which became one of the best decisions
she feels she ever made. She
did a lot of traveling growing up- internationally and within the
continental US. She traveled after her time in the Air Force, lived
in Brooklyn for a good while, fell in love, and eventually moved to
Vegas. Her son was born in May 2012, started blowing glass in 2013.
Eventually she built hery own in home studio and purchased a decent
sized paragon kiln (F420) at Champs that summer, saved up to buy a
brand new 40mm Herbie, and a great friend, Alex (@artbygoon on
instagram) decided he'd rather be a tattoo artist instead of a
glass blower, and proceeded to give Jae his hoses, gauges, oxy
tank, cases of clear Schott, and some basic tools. She's been
blowing glass on her own for just about a year now. you can
find Jae on instagram @HLKglass
www.wyzguymedia.com/144