Recipe for Success

Maybe you’ve seen him (or better yet, followed the delicious scent of Korean barbecue to his door) in Fulton Hall, where he’s a resident adviser; or maybe you’ve seen him around campus as an Orientation leader, as vice president of the Lubin School of Business, or editorial director and founder of Spoon University (SpoonU) at Pace. But where Jaeseo (James) Park ’17 really wants you to see him is on your television screen.

An arts and entertainment management and qualitative business analysis double major, Park lets off the steam of his business studies and busy schedule by pursuing his passion for cooking and dream of becoming a television food personality. Park creates and stars in his own food shows Cooking My Feelings and Eating My Feelings on YouTube, which he films right from his dorm.

In fact, Park says that becoming a resident adviser in Fulton Hall was a turning point for his cooking and the inspiration for his shows. When he was assigned to live and work in Fulton Hall (a primarily upperclassman building) as a sophomore, he found himself just a bit out of place.

“I was super lonely and didn’t know what to do,” he jokes. “So that’s how I kind of got into this whole cooking thing, and that’s how I relieved my stress and entertained myself. I didn’t know cooking could be therapeutic in a way. I didn’t know this little hobby could turn into my passion and, hopefully, a future career.”

Park’s shows are a unique blend of cooking, education about Korean foods and culture, and humor, all seasoned with, well, feelings. Cooking My Feelings focuses on cooking Korean-inspired dishes like soy sauce pasta and bibimbap, while Eating My Feelings invites viewers to dine with Park as he shares personal stories or takes on food challenges, like the Korean spicy noodle challenge.

With no formal training in the kitchen, Park considers the Food Network and the Internet his culinary tutors. As for filming and editing videos, Park admits that’s a different story. His first episode of Cooking My Feelings, only four minutes in length, took him eight hours to edit. But in the end, it’s worth it to share his work on YouTube. “What got my attention about YouTube is that you can really speak up and be an influencer through this platform,” he says. “I wanted to share my Korean roots and Korean recipes with people who wanted to know about me and my cooking styles.”

When he’s not serving up some omurice or tofu for his YouTube viewers, James Park is focused on putting his double major to use through real world experience. He’s currently interning at Eat In Chef as an operations apprentice and business development support. He’s also recently started a Pace University chapter of SpoonU, an online resource for college students by college students to navigate food and restaurants near and on campus, with original content written and produced by Park and his dedicated team of Pace foodies.

While he still has plenty of time at Pace to continue making videos from the comfort of his dorm, Park has his eye on the next chapter, which could involve culinary school. “As soon as I graduate, I want to experience the whole food media industry with my quantitative business analysis major in the arts and entertainment management field. That’s how I’m planning to combine my majors for my future job, but I still have the big picture of my goal to share my life stories through my cooking good foods.”