by Grace Wu
Collegians at LBC already know how difficult it is to be a full-time student. But what about adding full-time work on top of it? Singles Ministry member Sung Bae experiences firsthand the incredible time crunch under which he orders his daily activities.
Also known as “Mr. Megabyte” around LBC for his expertise in fixing computers, Sung is originally from Torrance, CA. He graduated from UCLA in 2004 majoring in Computer Science. Currently, he works at Kyocera as a phone engineer and is also an MBA student at University of San Diego at the same time. His usual schedule starts with waking up at 9 a.m., arriving at work at 10 and getting off at 5. From work, he heads straight to USD and attends class until 9 p.m. At around 10 p.m., he finally has time to sit down and spend time with the Lord in his quiet times. At home, his time is spent usually fixing a computer, playing video games, or improving somebody’s resume.
According to his housemate Ji Lee, Sung is the “tech guy” of the Diane house. However, Sung does have other responsibilities other than fixing computers and setting up networks. As a graduate student, academics are also an important part of his schedule. Taking advantage of the late hours, Sung can also be found at his favorite study spot— on the second floor of Geisel Library at UCSD until closing time at 2 a.m.
“[The second floor is] where it’s the noisiest. Noisy environments help me concentrate and studying with other LBCers definitely keeps me going,” Sung stated.
Studying, working, classes, and everything in between—how does Sung manage it all within 24 hours?
“I don’t know how I juggle both,” Sung stated. “There are numerous days where I wake up and contemplate how I’m going to get to the end. I know without God I would fall apart.”
As someone who works and goes to school, is easy to view classes with a dreadful attitude and think of it as just another obstacle to overcome during the day after a long day of work is over. However, for Sung, it is important to keep a good attitude about class. “While I’m at work I can look forward to class. If anything, the fact that I get to listen to a good lecture keeps me going,” Sung stated. Being a student is also an opportunity to shine the light in the classroom. According to Sung, the MBA culture and environment is very focused on success and wealth. Classmates usually ask one another what field of study they want to go into, and the questions and comments that circulate are “Why do you want to do that? It doesn’t make that much money.”
“It sounds silly, but it’s hard to not be caught up in that,” Sung said. As a Christian at USD, which is a private Catholic school, Sung is the minority there with only a handful of fellow Christian classmates with him. A large portion of his classmates is either Catholic or atheist that have a mentality of pursuing wealth.
“I deal with it by choosing not to participate in those conversations. My way of shining the light at school is to uphold my integrity with my classmates. Also, knowing that I can be judged at any moment of being Christian, I have to be prepared to make the right decisions and more importantly to watch what I say.” Outside the classroom and into the church doors, Sung is in training to shine the light at LBC as well. Pastor Steve is currently coaching Sung and preparing him for teaching preschool. “As much as I like playing with kids, I want to put it to better use. Rather than chasing them in the parking lot, I want to put it into something more meaningful,” Sung said. Even though Sung’s schedule where he needs to study and work simultaneously would be considered as too busy, he does not use that as an excuse to not serve in church. It is a challenge to not complain, but he does not use those excuses to not attend church activities.
“Anyone can say that they’re busy, but just manage your time better and take responsibility,” Sung said.