Youna · Cristina · 정연아
Missionary kid in Bolivia. Current full-ride Duke student. Hear my story!
About me
Hey there! I'm Youna — but you may also know me as Cristina, or 정연아. I'm Korean, but I was born in a far-off country called Bolivia.
My grandparents were sent as missionaries from Korea to Bolivia forty years ago, and I've been raised in Bolivia ever since. I danced in a church tambourine ministry, learned piano so I could lead worship, and started teaching younger children about the Word of God every Sunday. It was a lot. Balancing church responsibilities with schoolwork, dance, and just hanging out with friends on a weekend sometimes felt impossible.
It wasn't until I was 18, opening my QuestBridge results — QuestBridge is a program that matches high-achieving students from lower-income families with full scholarships to top colleges — and finding out I'd been matched to Duke with a full ride (meaning my academics, food, and dorm were completely paid for), that I saw how everything had been in God's hands all along. He made the hard work bear fruit. I realized that the friend conflicts, the worship team fatigue, even the friction with people at church — all of it was part of His plan to show me:
"But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." — Matthew 6:33
I'm now a rising junior at Duke, studying Biology with a concentration in Pharmacology. I live alone, in a country far from my parents — and yet I have the privilege of saying that God feeds me every day, through my financial aid, haha. Still, I tend to forget how grateful I should be when sushi is available to me practically every day. That's why I try to make a conscious effort to notice what's right in front of me. Learning to do that has taught me to be grateful for things I used to take for granted — and I believe that's the Holy Spirit's work in me (the Spirit of God, for anyone reading this who isn't a believer).
How God has been shaping me
A little of it, straight from my own diary.
I think one thing that helped me grow the most was humbling myself in what I know. I'd learn something, then immediately start doubting it — is that actually 100% true? It used to drive me crazy.
The mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell — but how? Why? Since when? Questions like that can send you into a spiral over just one small thing. But at least I actually learned that one thing — I'm confident in what the mitochondria is — and I was proud of it.
Maybe learning one thing well is better than being unsure about a hundred things.
It's the same with my Bible study. I don't need to read a whole chapter every day. But if I learn one true thing, I'm thankful — and I try to apply it, testing it from every angle until I really understand it.
📍 Presenting my MALAT-1 poster, Carolina Summer Fellowship Program — one more thing I learned well enough to stand behind.
I roll down the window of the rusty car where my brother and I were resting. "That's the pastor, right?" I ask my brother, as an old man walks up holding a mango.
"Do you want a mango?" he asks, eyes wide, with a warm, easy smile. Without hesitation I roll the window down further to take it — but instead, he lifts one finger and says, "You can find some under that tree." I sit there stunned, manage a "thank you," and roll the window back up before bursting into laughter with my brother. I was so confused.
That moment stuck with me because of how much it confused me. Why didn't he just hand us the mango, when it seemed like he was offering it? I learned that when we want something, we have to act like we want it. If I wanted that mango badly enough, I would've stepped out of the car, into the sun, and found one myself. If we want a good life — a stable income, a healthy family — we can't just sit in the car waiting for someone else to do the work for us.
Get out of the car. Go get the mango.
💃 Three months of showing up, out of the car and onto the stage — with my crew at the Bolivia Hip Hop Championship.
Let's talk 💌
Curious about anything, or just want to chat? I'd love to hear from you.