My First Love

This novel is a story of Dong Ho Chang, who was born in a rural town, Umsong South Korea in 1937, was educated and had a successful career as a distinguished professor of journalism in the University of Missouri, USA
Dong Ho was heavily motivated to be a scholar at a very young age by his grandfather who had vision based in the Confucian values and philosophy, which emphasized personal and governmental morality, correctness of social relationships, justice and sincerity.
Dong Ho was told by his grandfather that his life's destiny came under the sign of the "running horse," which would carry him around the world. The source of this Confucian prophecy, The Book of Changes, considers the cycle of one life span to be 60 years. Dong Ho has now surpassed that cycle by over 2 decades, but his destiny continues to keep him running. This book is an examination of that destiny and looks back at what Dong Ho has done to accomplish his goals along the way.
Dong Ho's first goal was to achieve the highest level of education. He began that journey in provincial high school in Chongju Korea, eventually making his way to Seoul Korea for college. After four years of preparation after graduating from Korea University, he made his way to Eugene, Oregon to take another bachelor's degree in journalism. Then he moved down to Los Angeles for his master's and finally to Iowa City for his ultimate goal, a doctoral degree. It took him 35 years of hard work to achieve that goal.
Dong Ho's second goal was to be successful in his career. His career was centered on the teaching of journalism at the University of Missouri. He was honored to be awarded the O.O McIntire Distinguished Chair Professorship and worked as a department chair, director of the Stephenson Research Center and associate dean for graduate studies and research. He supervised 33 doctoral dissertations, wrote 16 books, spearheaded the use of word processing in printing newspapers, helped to establish and modernize newspapers in Asia and mentored motivating young journalists all over the world.
His third goal was to have a successful family life. His wife Young and Dong Ho have been happily married for 58 years. They have been blessed to have three children who are well educated, happily married and successful in their careers: Susan works as a City Planner, and her husband, David, has an architectural firm. They live with their sons Ben and Eric in British Columbia, Canada; Anthony, a senior international attorney