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Impact? Sure, let’s talk about impact. I could talk about how Koreans consider BTS as part of our important cultural heritage, their impact on Korean national economy, or them shattering countless records accomplishing things we never considered POC artists would be able to.+
But you know what? What really drew me into this fandom was not any of that. What intrigued and inspired me was the life-altering impact they had on millions of their fans. During our research on BTS/ARMY, we have met many fans who told us how BTS has fundamentally changed+
their lives, how they saved them from falling into the scary depth of depression and hopelessness, how they gave them courage to face another day and work towards something in this world where nothing seems normal anymore, how they reignited the passion that they thought they+
have completely lost, how they made them question the systems and structures they always accepted as non-problematic, how they learned about and came to appreciate different perspectives and cultures, how they were finally able to accept and appreciate their own culture +
which they were taught to be inferior, how they motived them to take action and make a difference in the world, how they taught them to stop accepting the unjust reality and speak up, how they gave them courage to face and accept their identities, and how they finally learned+
to love themselves. As an educator, this kind of impact is something I often think about. At the end of this road when I reflect back on my life, would I have made any difference to all those students I met in my journey? If I made this kind of transformational impact to+
even a dozen, or a handful of people in my lifetime, that would give me peace that my work meant something, that I didn’t come to this world to simply take and consume, but I have given something back in return.+
On a daily basis, even in my tiny Twitter space I see dozens of ARMYs sharing this kind of story, and I see numerous REAL actions they are taking to help others and make the world a better place.+
So just imagine the millions of people out there that I don’t even see whose lives have been touched in a similar way. If that is not impact, then I don’t know what is.
