Mr. Hyphen 2011 finalist Terry Park.

We close out our Five Contestants, Five Days coverage of Mr. Hyphen 2011 (check out all of the contestant profiles thus far) with finalist Terry Park.

Terry Park’s least favorite Asian American stereotype is that Asian
Americans are all from California, New York, or Hawaii. Well, yeah, of course they aren’t!
And we can prove it. This year he is our proud … Utahn (Utahian? Utahn?) representative at Mr. Hyphen 2011!

He says, “It’s time us Rocky Mountain Asians get to shine,
or as we say in Utah, ‘yee haw!’” If anyone deserves a moment in the spotlight, it’s Terry. He
has dedicated his life to show disadvantaged communities and individuals that
they are not alone -- most notably, through performance in his own (yes, his
own) off-Broadway show, 38th Parallels, which explores the
lines that divide second-generation Koreans. He has also been involved in the
Korean Education and Exposure Program (KEEP), taught free English classes to
elderly Korean immigrant workers, has been a teaching assistant for a history course
in San Quentin Prison’s College Program, and now he is currently a teaching
assistant at UC Davis in their Asian American Studies program. Phew!

That’s not an extensive list at all.

At Mr. Hyphen 2011, he will represent the Asian Prisoner
Support Committee (APSC), an organization that provides support to API
prisoners and educates the broader community about the growing number of APIs
in the US who are being imprisoned, detained, and deported.

Terry,
we’re lucky to have you as one of our contestants! Oh, and we really
hope you sing karaoke (specifically that Spice Girls song from your
video application) at some point during the evening.

Mr. Hyphen 2011 is on Saturday, November 5, at the Brava! Theater in San Francisco. Click here for more info on the event and to get tickets.