Name/Korean name: Sam Dowling / 허영만
First KAtCH event: Summer Picnic 2023. I found KAtCH curiously by way of the Chinese American Museum of Chicago, which hosted an Asian adoptee panel there. From there I was connected to the HANA Center, eventually joining its adult pungmul (Korean drumming) group and learned about KAtCH from a couple of its members.
Where did you grow up/Where do you live now? I grew up in a small suburb in Connecticut and then lived my 20s in New York City. I now live in West Loop. Never in my life would this East Coaster think of living in the Midwest, but I am so happy to call Chicago ‘home.’
Tell us about yourself: My older sister and I were both adopted from South Korea (though not biologically related). My parents adopted my sister at the same time as a handful of other families in nearby towns also were adopting children from Korea. As a result, growing up my sister and I were in touch at least yearly with other Korean adoptees of similar ages. Otherwise, I never really thought much about my identity as an adoptee until a health scare in high school and again when moving to Chicago (which also coincided with a piquing interest in my identity as Korean).
My childhood career dream was to become a “garbage collector,” which is particularly laughable given I am a germaphobe. Truthfully my parents encouraged me to pursue whatever interested me and made me happy. My curiosities eventually landed me at Georgetown where I studied Biology of Global Health, thinking I wanted to become a policymaker. However, it was there that I fell in love with laboratory research and medicine. Fast-forward another 12 years of school/training, I have MD and PhD degrees and I genuinely love my job as a physician-scientist in pediatric rheumatology. Loosely this means I take care of children and adolescents with autoimmune diseases and also help diagnose medical mysteries (think “House” in real life). And when I’m not working in the hospital or clinic, I spend time asking questions and testing my hypotheses in a laboratory.
You’ll likely KAtCH me doing the following: Watching Manchester United. As a child and teenager, I played soccer every weeknight and weekend regardless of the season. I absolutely lived and breathed the sport (bummer that Chicago is not a host city for the 2026 World Cup and bigger bummer that Son Heung-min is in LA and not repping the Fire). Reading a new book (or simply re-reading Harry Potter for the umpteenth time). I was the kid at family get-togethers who would always hide in the corner with his nose buried in a book. I mostly read science-fiction, poetry, and short stories but I’m always eager for a new rec. Running along the lake. I didn’t pick up running until graduate school as a way to unwind (and an excuse to eat AYCE Indian buffets Sunday afternoons). I ran several half-marathons in NYC and then ran my first full marathon in Chicago in 2024.
Why do you enjoy being involved with the KAtCH community? As an introvert, I typically don’t share much of my personal life. But coming to KAtCH, I’ve found that we have so many shared experiences and narratives that I don't need to say much to feel connected. It’s the first place since fully embracing my Korean adoptee identity that I feel “Korean enough” without being “too much Korean”. At the same time, our community is full of such diverse individuals that every time I leave a KAtCH event I come away with new reflections.
Favorite restaurant(s) in Chicagoland:
Evette’s
New Village / 새마을포차
Lula Cafe
Apolonia