YoungMin You ‘16 shares how God brought him from South Korea to Wheaton and what he loves about studying at the Conservatory of Music.
As a South Korean international student attending high school in Michigan, YoungMin You had heard great things about Wheaton College. He wasn’t sure how he’d be able to pay for four years of college in America, but he knew Wheaton was the school for him. “It’s the only place I applied,” he says. On his first campus visit he felt truly embraced by the people at Wheaton. The admissions staff urged him to apply, regardless of his resources, and their encouragement kept him from giving up. Through a generous gift to an international scholarship, YoungMin was able to join the class of 2016.
“I’m so grateful to God,” he says. “It makes me so humble, because God worked it out. When people ask me ‘How did you come to Wheaton?’ I know I had very little to offer, but it’s by God’s grace.”
A self-taught pianist with a passion for composing, Young Min is now a second-year music composition major in the Conservatory of Music. He raves about his professors and his Wheaton experience. “I’ve never seen teachers this enthusiastic about teaching. I love the people, the professors, and the practicing. I love learning music and learning about God as much as I want to. It is amazing to have the education that I have always wanted, that I always dreamed of having. I have my own place to practice at the Conservatory, and all of these other friends who share the same dreams that I have.”
Those dreams include a career as a composer and performer. “My motto is Making God famous through music,” he says. “That is all. I want to share God’s goodness through music, and have fun.”