Hyuk Sang (Thomas) Cho

Someone had once asked me how I came up with “Thomas” from “Hyuk Sang.” Admittedly, I was stumped as much as the person asking me the question. The story of how I magically came up with “Thomas” from my Korean name isn’t as riveting as Dan Brown novels, but it’s a start, one that is, perhaps, intriguing enough for you to not stop here. Afterall, my American name exists for the sake of both of us.

Born and raised in Seoul, South Korea, I met Tammy, my oldest cousin, in Reno, NV, just for the second time at the age of 10. I had met her once before back in Seoul, when she came to visit my family in our one-room basement with two windows that I once called home. When she welcomed me to America, she insisted on giving me an American name. She said having an American name was a requirement for living in America–I have an inkling that she might’ve tricked me so that she could name me.

“Ryan” was the name chosen for me. And like any other Korean uneducated in English would do, I rejected it. In Korean, “R”s and “L”s can’t be distinguished, so when I heard “Ryan,” I immediately thought Tammy was trying to name me “Lion.” I grabbed the book with all the baby names and flipped through until I found “Thomas.” I stuck with my Korean name on the records for nine years thereafter until I had a chance to permanently get rid of it and adopt “Thomas” when I was naturalized. Yet the name I signed on the naturalization certificate was not “Thomas.”

I knew, by sticking with my Korean name, that I’d have to deal with others constantly butchering it. I’ve heard “Hi-yook,” “Yuk,” heck, I’ve even heard my last name changed to “Chow.” But if having the most quintessential American name andthe most Korean-sounding name means anything, it is that such a life of apparent contradiction serves as a testimony to how 1+1 can become 3–a dream come true for accountants like me.

It was a struggle and if you have come across any other 1.5 generation Korean-American literature, you’re all too familiar with the trudging toils of an immigrant. I’m not saying that I’m the only Korean-American to achieve the balance of the two very distinctive cultures–and trust me, they are as different as my two names. But I may be the first to fully realize the capacity and potential in consciously realizing such achievement and attempt to capitalize on it, i.e. 1+1 truly can be 3. I’m an accountant by trade and a stu