Athletes who leave their hometowns in pursuit of an opportunity to play university sports is hardly rare. In fact, the Ryerson Rams have nine student-athletes who were born and raised outside of Canada and dozens more who come from other provinces. 

But, perhaps none have traveled further than women's hockey forward Ye Eun Park, who hails from Gangneung, South Korea. Not only did she become the team's first-ever international recruit upon her arrival in 2018, but she's also one of the few Rams who've had the honour of representing their country on the world stage. 

In 2018, Park joined the unified Korean national ice hockey team—which, for the first time in history, featured players from both North and South Korea—and competed at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics, a historic occurrence that was chronicled in Seth Berkman's book entitled A Team of Their Own: How an International Sisterhood Made Olympic History. Before her 20th birthday, she'd marched in an Olympic opening ceremony and traveled across the world to play hockey in another country. 

"It was definitely something you would never experience ever again," Park said of the rare chance she had to play alongside North Korean athletes. "I actually had a really good time with them when they were with us."

For Park, the Olympics had always been a goal, especially since the hockey portion of the PyeongChang Olympics were being held in her hometown of Gangneung, where several facilities were built years prior in anticipation of an earlier bid for the games. 

"I was so happy to make the team and participate in the games," Park said with a smile. 

After moving to Seoul as a 15-year-old to train with the national team, Park spent time at the Canadian International Hockey Academy (CIHA) in Rockland, Ont. and at the Ontario Hockey Academy (OHA) in Cornwall, Ont. as part of an exchange program between the Canadian and South Korean hockey federations. Then, she spent a season at the University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI) before transferring to Ryerson at the encouragement of Olympic teammate and fellow Ram Danelle Im. 

"I think it's great for young players in Korea," Park said of the ability for young Korean players to travel to Canada to play at hockey academies. "They're still doing it and [sending] players."

Now, as a psychology student at Ryerson, Park is facing a new set of challenges. Mainly, she's had to deal with taking classes that run on Toronto time while dialing in from her parents' home in Incheon, which is about 15 miles southwest of Seoul. While some students have to grapple with time differences of a few hours, Park routinely sits in on lectures that take place at 3 a.m. local time. 

"My sleep cycle is completely off," she said with a laugh. "But, that's fine." 

Funny enough, living at home is more or less unusual for Park, considering she's been on her own since going after a spot with the national team. In that way, the COVID-era return to living with her parents is the most abnormal practice she's adopted. 

"I think, at this point, I'm more used to living away from home, because I've been this way since high school," Park remarked. "But, it's so nice to be home." 

Still, she's been able to weather the storm and stay on course in her final year. For this, she credits her professors, who've made the transition to online learning seamless and forgiving. Of course, her work-ethic and determination are also chiefly responsible for her success, both on and off the ice. 

"I really enjoy my studies at Ryerson, just because every psychology professor I've had so far has been amazing."

As she approaches graduation, Park, a 2019-2020 Academic All-Canadian, has a lot of options as she looks to life after undergraduate studies. 

"Eventually I want to go to grad school in psychology," Park added, noting that she's currently in the process of applying for several master's degree programs. 

In addition, she has two years of U SPORTS eligibility remaining, meaning she could continue to play hockey while in graduate school. So, will she play hockey during graduate school?

"I think that really depends on what I'll be doing," Park said reflectively. "That'll all depend on the situation."

Regardless of her future plans, Ye Eun Park remains one of the most intriguing student-athletes who proudly dons the Ryerson 'R'. If nothing else, she arguably has the most fascinating history of any OUA athlete, making her a uniquely situated contributor to a growing program. 

For more academic profiles on our student-athletes, stay tuned to ryersonrams.ca