Being biracial certainly had its perks. For one thing, she had great hair, a luxury that she wouldn't fully appreciate until those crazy teenage years. Another perk was that she had both parents with her every step of the way why she learned about both her American and Korean culture. Of course, being raised in Georgia, learning the culture she had little real contact with took priority, which probably hurt her father more than he would ever say, but there was so much about Korea that she wanted to immerse herself in, which, from Georgia, was incredibly difficult.

Thank God for the internet.

But don't think she didn't get that Georgia experience. Oh no, not with her older cousins around.

Crystal learned about every rule of fighting on a child's terms from those cousins and that fighting spirit was something that would follow her throughout the remainder of her life, especially in middle school when she was confronted with just how different she was from her peers. Girls would pull at her hair, yelling that it was fake. Teachers would speak slowly to her as if she didn't speak English and God forbid if her parents came onto campus for a conference. That would usually throw everyone for a loop. Throughout sixth and seventh grade, Crystal endured as much of it as she could, but something snapped in eight grade and she got into her first fight with someone that wasn't a relative.

Poor Crystal was destined to lose that fight. The girl in question was significantly larger than her, had a few fights with older boys under her belt and there was also a rumor that she'd stayed back three times. Of course, Crystal's mother was beside herself in anger and her father was a heartbeat away from launching a lawsuit against the school board for allowing the fight to get as bad as it did while the girls were still on the school grounds, but a written apology from the bully and her parents, the girl's suspension and a transferring of schools for Crystal and the idea was dropped.

At least, until her next fight a few months later.

She lost that one too.

Afraid to tell her parents why the fights were happening, though they certainly could guess, Crystal simply elected to inform them that she had started the fights. All of them. Because she could. For a while, the option of sending to her another school was considered. Perhaps an international school in Korea where she would be able to be better acquainted with the other part of her culture. It wasn't necessarily in their budget, but knowing people in high places often paid off. So off to Korea she went for her high school education. At this new school, there were no fights, though there was a great deal of staring. And once people got to know her, she made friends easily enough. And it was at this international school that she discovered her love for soccer. Who knew she was such a natural? She ended up getting a pretty decent athletic scholarship.

Deciding to stay in Korea for college was a no brainer, but at the same time, was a very difficult decision to be made. There wasn't any doubt that she missed home, especially her parents. But when would an opportunity like this ever come again? So with the full confidence of her parents, began her Yonsei journey..

..which may have included a great deal of partying, lots of alcohol, a couple of recreational drugs here and there and... did she pledge to be in a sorority?

Oh man..