MinJae, with Laureen Bonin and former headmaster Jim DeVecchi, receiving his special recognition the final All-School Assembly.
MinJae “Steve” Cho’ 13 It was September 2011 when I first arrived at the Abbey. I didn’t have any self-confidence. I gave myself an English name, “Steve,” but I wasn’t sure how to go about fitting into the Abbey community. I just did what I thought I should be doing, going to classes, and joining clubs that interested me. The Beacon was one of them.
friends with teachers, because they were authority figures to me. Working on The Raven was amazing, too. I didn’t know what to do with it. I kept an eye out for the layout in magazines, websites, newspapers, books – anything that looked good. I wasn’t sure how I was going to do, but Mrs. Bonin encouraged me.
When I joined The Beacon, I was unaware that the layout was done by students. Once I found out, I sent a brief, carefully written email to Mrs. Bonin with an attachment that contained samples of things, like a poster and a few drafts of the student newspaper, I had worked on at my previous school. I met Mrs. Bonin and decided that I should start working on The Beacon that spring. Meanwhile, I found out that Nick DeLieto ’13 was interested in photography, and we became close friends. We went shooting often, and it became a tradition to go to his house for Easter. I also met Julia Slupska ’13; she changed my life, and I hers. She is still and will be one of my best friends. Mrs. Bonin also showed me The Raven. I wasn’t sure if I could do a decent job, but she convinced me to work on it. So, in the spring of my Fourth Form year, I began the layout work. To be honest, I didn’t like the way it looked before. I wanted to change a few things, make it more modern. I got all excited and wanted to overhaul the whole thing. I asked Mrs. Bonin, who was reluctant to change some of the features that had always been there (I think she outright said “no” to a few things.). She did, however, let me pick the fonts for the title and the byline, and she accepted the redesign of The Beacon’s masthead. She watched me work and instructed me to do things in a certain way during the first few weeks. I liked taking photos and doing the layout. I don’t know why, but I loved working on it. I remember working till very late in the St. Brigid’s common room with the editors, Jesse (Bessinger ’12), Sid (Sharma ’12), Emily (McCutcheon ’11), Taylor (Smariga ’11), Sarah (Auer ’12), Christian (Barcenas ’12), Allison (Bolles ’13), Michelle (Mehrtens ’13); Mrs. Bonin bringing food for us, or ordering pizza, Chinese. I pushed myself to make it look better every time, and I became close with all the editors. Mrs. Bonin began to trust me and gave me more control; she meant it when she said decisions were up to me. She had become a friend; before that, I thought it not possible to become
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I wasn’t working on The Beacon or The Raven for compliments or awards, but I got a lot of that after The Raven came out. Back then, I couldn’t take compliments. I didn’t have any confidence, and I did not expect to win awards for my work. Those awards were really unexpected because I wasn’t trying to win any. I was just doing what I loved doing. It was a nice surprise, it was flattering and it probably marks the change within me that was possible at the Abbey and that I appreciate so much. Through The Beacon and The Raven, I made valuable friends. The publications never became a chore despite the workload; I was always excited to work on them, and they became something I could be proud of, something I knew I was good at. They, both the publications and the people, helped me build self-confidence that I now see I needed so much. Thinking about that last assembly still makes me tear up (Editor’s note: Minjae was presented with a special recognition at one of the final All-School Assemblies for all of his work on School publications.) It was one of the two best moments that I experienced at the Abbey, and I thank Mrs. Bonin, Dr. Bonin, Mrs. Stark, and Ms. Heydt for that. It was truly amazing, and I can’t possibly describe what it means to me. Half of my “activities” included on the Common App were either photography or publication related. It would not have been possible without Mrs. Bonin, Ms. Swift, and Nick (DeLieto) and Julia (Slupska). They accepted me when I reached out, and I still can’t believe how it all turned out. I am glad I was of help to the Abbey, and I’m glad I know everyone I now know. Looking at some of the past issues of The Beacon and Raven, I see many flaws that I couldn’t see before. It’s just like looking back at myself. I’m glad to see myself now as someone better, more confident, more proud than I have been at any given moment in my life. – MinJae “Steve” Cho ‘13 MinJae plans to continue to work on design and photography in student publications when he matriculates at the University of Pennsylvania in September 2013.
P ORTSM O U T H A BB E Y S C HO OL