By Alex Baldino
Staff Writer
The room was packed with students on the edge of their seats, anxiously waiting for the star to arrive.
On Thursday, Feb. 20, The Korean Student Association (KSA) hosted popular YouTuber David So in the Brower Student Center Room 225. So, a Korean American comedian, YouTuber and entrepreneur, has amassed 1.47 million subscribers and over 310 million views on his main YouTube channel.
He began his comedy career at 16 years old and transitioned to YouTube while enrolled in California State University at Sacramento. After his video “Vlog #4: Asians in the Library” went viral, he dropped out of college and sold everything to pursue a full-time career in comedy.
Today, So has a podcast called GeniusBrain, has co-produced and starred in the 2017 film “Gook,” which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, and is a partner of Junbi Matcha & Tea, which is set to franchise in New Jersey this year.
The event was mainly comprised of a Q&A moderated by one of the KSA board members. The moderator asked about So’s personal life, his relationship with his parents and other behind-the-scenes topics. After the moderated Q&A, audience members were invited to ask their own questions.
When someone asked So about representation in media, he said that representation should come from the people who want to be represented.
“If I have a story to tell I’m gonna tell it the way I want,” he said. “You can’t let someone else tell your story. They’re going to butcher it.”
Representatives from the KSA of Rutgers University-New Brunswick and Stevens Institute of Technology were in attendance, as well as a diverse group of students from the College.
Tim Nerveza, a freshman biology major, has known of So for a while and enjoyed seeing him live. When asked what he thinks about So, Nerveza said that “he is an important teacher for people.”
Eliot Cha, a senior finance major and president of the Chinese Student Association (CSA), was one of the volunteers who helped the KSA set up and run the event. He’s known of So since middle school and remarked that the event was “very well run” and was happy so many people showed up because “it’s hard to get people out.”
The president of the KSA, senior accounting major Antonio Carollo, was hoping to start off strong with this David So event. He wants to strengthen ties with the KSA of other schools and hopes to collaborate with them in the future, as well as continue to provide opportunities to showcase Korean culture at the College.
“Fame doesn’t matter,” So said in response to a student asking for advice in the audience. “Go back to the reason you’re doing what you’re doing and let that motivate you.”
While Carollo himself does not come from an Asian background, he said he receives “a lot of love” from the members of KSA. Carollo is hoping to inspire other students to remain curious and interested in exploring other cultures.
