Meet the new BAKSA

The Korean word for Doctor, as in one who has achieved a doctorate, is BAKSA, derived from the Chinese characters:

BAK and SA

BAK – means “to be complete and far-reaching” (the cross on the left means complete, or, to extend in all four directions; the stuff on the right… far reaching, trust me).

SA – composed of a cross (the character for ten) upon a stand (the character for one) means, “one who knows everything, from one to ten.”

So, a BAKSA, is one whose knowledge of everything, from one to ten, is complete and far-reaching.

I’m not sure if that’s the case with our superstar, the Editor, but she is without a doubt, the proud new Doctor of Philosophy in French Language and Literature. I’ve never personally seen a scholar work harder, go through more pain and suffering, deal with more obstacles, and overcome everything to persevere – and that was just in me helping her! KIDDING – good gravy.

Seriously, the tale is storybook. Her parents gave up so very much – her father – an executive position with a major, now world-famous, Korean conglomerate, her mother – a comfortable life as housewife of the executive salaryman – to make sure their children would have more opportunity specifically to study what and how they saw fit. In the past, she’s confessed that as a student in her very first years of French, she had dreams both minor, of one day proctoring her own French language exams, and grand, to craft and lead her own course on the literature of 19th c. France that intrigued her so much. She’s already accomplished both of these, and has now reached the summit of her student path. There is no further for the student to go.

So, what next?

You know…why don’t we get to that later, hey? If I’ve learned anything in either my youthful upbringing in the midwest or my adult upbringing in the far east, it’s that you should never, ever, ever make haste to rush beyond the glorious and fleeting moments of triumph that life so rarely offers.

So, for now, let’s just simply bask in the glow of someone we all respect and love so very, very much – to cherish and honor the incredible accomplishment of someone who has worked so hard, for so long, with so little to go on but her own drive to reach that goal she set for herself and that her parents dreamed of her achieving when they left Korea some 30 odd years ago.

Brava! and Man-se!

to~~

-my beloved –

Dr. The Editor, Ph.D.