I Stand with Immigrants

JOHN YOO
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April 30, 2021

As a pediatric dentist, personal trainer, almost K-Pop star (he denies it), and successful YouTuber
with over 100,000 subscribers on his channel “J-Bro,” some may wonder how Dr. John Yoo
juggles his time. “I think I’m incredibly lucky to be able to compartmentalize my day. I’m not
doing 16 hours of dentistry or any one thing, or else I would burn out. I want to do dentistry, I
enjoy personal training, and I love making videos. Yes, there are days I do get exhausted, but these
are all my passions and I feel so blessed to be able to call them work,” he said.

The dream to become a dentist did not solidify until John’s senior year at Duke University. After
working on a research project with a renowned research physician Dr. Kim, he was asked a simple
question, “Why do you want to go into medicine?” John froze. “I didn’t have a particularly
convincing response to that. I spent my whole life thinking that I was going to be a MD and I
couldn’t answer this question with conviction. Dr. Kim saw me struggling with that response and
said, ‘John, that’s normal. Take some time off to explore your other interests.” Dr. Kim prescribed
him precious time-off from his research project, that ended up being some of the most critical
months of exploration. John fell on one of his oldest passions: singing.

Growing up, John was drawn to music in a very musically driven household. His mom, a pianist,
singer, guitarist, and schoolteacher, taught him how to sing at a very young age, and John learned
to embrace the stage spotlight. By high school, he was ranked one of the top classical singers in
NJ, and received numerous accolades for classical singing. From there, he continued to sing in
college, and formed a Korean band at Duke called the Seoul Singers, covering pop songs and
Koran ballads, while the start of the K-wave was happening. “There were nights I spent recording
all night and not getting tired of it one bit. I thought, what if I could combine this passion I have
for the arts with a career in healthcare?” As an attempt to combine the two, he shadowed music
therapists at a psychiatric ward in North Carolina, but didn’t feel the same personal fulfillment he
got while in the pediatric oncology wards. After shadowing a pediatric dentist (Dr. Hill) one day,
his life was decided. He took out his journal where he had been writing out his failures and a-ha
moments; he turned to a new page, wrote down the date, and jotted “I think I figured it out.”

Over the next 4 months, John witnessed meaningful interactions Dr. Hill had with his patients, the
autonomy of running his own practice, and most saliently, the ability to take two weeks off a year
to treat underserved children in Honduras with his staff. “I thought that was the perfect balance of
entrepreneurship, healthcare, and philanthropy.” Before college, John and his father looked
forward to spending time together on international volunteer trips, with his first being in Brazil. So
when John took his first dental missionary trip to Panama in college, he was hooked. “My parents,
being very avid Christians and big proponents of helping the community, always felt like we could

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and should do more for others. I think seeing that trickled down into what I wanted my life to be
like as well. Ultimately, when I’m on my deathbed, I want to be able to say, ‘Did I leave the world
a little bit better of a place than when I had started?” I think if I can answer that with confidence, I
will have lived with no regrets.

Empowered and motivated to keep helping those in need, he knew that being able to use his
efforts to help those in need was his driving factor. He went on 3 more dental mission trips to
Cambodia and Jamaica while in dental school and in residency. “The single biggest fulfillment I
get is when I get to interact with the population that I see as particularly vulnerable. I thought,
what population do I want to work with and do I see the most reward in treating. And it was, hands
down for me, kids. They have a limited understanding of what’s happening. But with a little more
effort, I can hopefully provide treatment in a way that can be fun. “I can absolutely relate to a
child’s dental fear – I had severe early childhood caries and I underwent multiple treatments at a
tender age. A dentist and his/her team has the ability to make the experience better.”

In November 2020, John and his soon to be dental partners, all Columbia Dental doctors, decided
to pull the trigger and open a pediatric dental and orthodontic clinic together in Fort Lee, New
Jersey called Beam City Dental. Just a few months later, they are undergoing construction next
door to an H Mart, a quintessential stop for any Asian dish needs. Fort Lee and Palisades Park —
or Pal Park, as any red-blooded, bagel-eating Jerseyian will call it — are a mere 10 minutes across
the Hudson River from the predominantly Spanish-speaking neighborhood of Washington Heights
in New York City. With over half of Pal Park’s and Fort Lee’s residents of Korean ancestry, it is a
hub and Mecca for the bridge and tunnel crowd. “Those places were the only things that my
parents and I had, as like, a remnant of our life in Korea. We would spend weekends in Fort Lee
and my mom would feel most comfortable there, since she could use her native language. I would
spend Saturday mornings and afternoons at an academy there learning Korean. Fort Lee has
always been like a second home away from home and to be setting up our clinic there, actually
excited my parents almost more than anything. It still feels kind of surreal.”

When John and his family moved to the United States when he was 4 years old, the plan was for
his family to move back to Korea after his father’s 5 year work visa ended. But when he turned 9
years old, John and his brother did not want to give up the life that they knew. “Imagine leaving a
country at 9 years old. I was American by that point – I made friends here, and even though I
looked like none of my friends in my predominantly non-Asian neighborhood, I would’ve done
anything to stay.” His parents listened, and his mother remained in NJ while his father worked in
Korea and eventually in Brazil, without knowing when he would return. He finally returned
permanently on John’s high school graduation day, where he proudly gave the Salutatorian speech.
“That was the happiest day of my life, seeing my parents back together in the same house.
Looking back now, I feel incredibly grateful and also so painfully sad for what they did to give my
old brother and me a chance at an American education. I was lucky to have my brother point out to
me at a young age the immensity of their sacrifice. If at any moment I felt unmotivated or lazy, my
older brother would say, “‘Do you realize what they’re doing for us right now? Study hard. Make
their sacrifice worthwhile.’ It wasn’t a guilt trip, it was more of an encouragement, and I’ve
internalized that to now just live each day to the fullest. Without a doubt, my family has and

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always will mean the world to me.”

John prescribes to the idea that immigrants are amongst the hardest working people he knows. “I
think the immigrant story is something that truly inspires people to work hard and achieve their
goals, no matter what the circumstances. I strongly believe there’s priceless value in placing your
satisfaction off of your efforts, not only your outcomes. That’s the one thing that you can control.
It’s the mindset, the effort you put in, that you can control. Don’t think about the results
immediately. Don’t think about how much money, how much gain. If you’re putting in one
hundred percent in the right direction and you’re moving forward, then you’ve tried your best, and
hopefully results will follow.

“For me, every chance that I get to work or do something, I don’t see it as an obligation even if it
is- I see it as a chance for me to work hard and make something of it. I try to be grateful for what I
have and the opportunities afforded.” This gratitude mindset is what John believes both
immigrants and non-immigrants alike in reaching their potentials and pursuing their dreams. Final
statements from John: “One life. Make it extraordinary. You can do what your mind allows.”