JOSH CHO

Josh sells me fish at Lexington Market. Having had regular but brief interactions with him for over a year, I wanted to know more about Josh's life.

Like most parents, Josh values his children above all else. He works hard to give them the best education possible, but feels that infiltrating today's rapidly globalizing businesses (especially as Korean-Americans, he says) requires a competitive edge beyond perfect grades. Josh has therefore sent his son and daughter to a different country two times a year since they were four years old. The time is theirs to explore a new place (provided their first stop is a museum to learn the country's culture and history), but when they return home, they must recount for their father “How was the country different?,” “What were its problems?,” “What mistakes did you make?,” “What did you learn?”

Josh's approach to education involves giving his children opportunities and challenges instead of directly teaching them. I was inspired to make this sort of symbolic tool that a father might hand down to his roaming kids. It's an object that appears to offer experience and history, but actually reminds the recipient to be constantly forging and honing (pause for groans) his own competitive edge. The engraved message to constantly be asking yourself translates to “What did you learn?”

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