One of 10 - Nicole Lee Snsd

2.Into the new world

I was in my sophomore year of  High School when I first heard of K-pop.

It was  2005 and a friend of mine had just introduced me to a new friend she had.Her name was Lin and she was also Asian. Yeah I know, but her family was from Hong Kong and somehow she got access to an album by a group called TVXQ.I think the song was "Rising Sun" which had just been released that year. 

I wasn't interested much at the time but I just remember being hit in the face "oh so this is what Korean sounds like. " I knew where Korea was on the map but I had never heard the language before. Recess was over and we went back to our separate classes.The friend who introduced me Anna and I both took singing and dance classes as our after-school activity. That's how we became friends. But she was quite popular and her friend circle always seemed to change.People called her unreliable and to be honest I could imagine why.But even though she was stubborn she was always full of energy and when she was in a good mood you always did something crazy. Like running through the boys locker room splashing water around. I and other girls just followed you know.We had sung together before at talent competition we lost( unbelivable!).Later we banded together with a pair of twins we were good friends with. The twins could also kinda sing and we performed together at the Christmas talent show.We sang Faith Hill's "Where are you Christmas" We sounded amazing.

I did struggle in school a little bit. I just wanted to rush down the hallways like "High school musical" and have fun. I often sat with my head in the clouds and then I would catch up at home plus the homework. By this time mom had found a man and fallen in love again. He was one year older than her and also had two kids. He had also been a single parent for a number of years. My little brother who was like 6 years old took him wholeheartedly,I didnt. It wasn't anything against him I just didn't need a "daddy." I was like 14 at the time and wanted my own cell phone, take the bus by myself and stay out past 10. I was interested in independence at that time.

"You  have a pretty face you could totally model" he told me one day.

"Ok , I mean that would be fun I said." After this he actually contacted a buddy of his whose daughter was a photographer. Just for me to model. He was a nice man though.It was funny how he thought I had a shot and paid a professional photographer for a portfolio when his own daughter was only a year younger. She was also pretty but I guess too short only strutting about at 5'2. I'm 5'6 .She and her brother was in between my brother and me.  But the modeling thing caused a bit of a riff between all of us. He had actually been a booking agent for talent in the mid-80's but retired and only rented out building and storage spaces now.

I took my pictures outside standing in different locations doing different poses.I ate it up I had watched Americas next top model and I felt like one that day.

I remember being in school and my friend Anna and Lin talked about an audition they went to.I was like "what ,what?" They kept chatting on and played annoyed as teen girls do at that age. "Yeah we went to a K-pop audition for SM entertainment"Lin said smiling at me. Anna didn't cause she knew how pissed off I was going to be. 

"What?" We had talked about going together and I couldn't believe they went without me. Luckily they didn't go through. At home walking back and forth in my bedroom I thought to myself she must be jealous.Screw her and all of them. I'm gonna be famous by myself.'Then October 2006 there was an open audition in NYC.I didn't tell anybody about it .The plan was to sneak away from school take the train into the city and pop back home like nothing.But it didn't sit right with me to lie to Mom so I told her two days before and she wasn't mad. She actually kinda supported me and drove me to the station. It was a little scary. I had been to the city before like 5 years earlier. But I knew I just needed to get inside a cab and tell them the exact address and they would take me there. At the auditions there were both boys and girls of my age and younger.It really stands out in my mind because I had never been in hallway after hallway and room after room with so many people who looked like me before.We were all Asians.