Simon Oh is the office manager at Sojourners.
He immigrated to the Washington, D.C. area with his parents at the tender age of 2½ months and has lived in various parts of the region for most of his life.
Formerly, Simon served for 8 years as a Sunday school teacher at the Korean United Methodist Church of Greater Washington in McLean, Va., during which time he was blessed to teach some of the most intelligent, passionate, driven, and mischievous youth one can find anywhere. He has also come to deeply respect the critical task of effectively communicating the relevance of the church to younger, emerging generations.
Today, Simon is a member of Culmore United Methodist Church in Falls Church, Va., and served as its treasurer for 5 years. After several years of developing Culmore’s budgets, he now understands the tremendous importance of financial stewardship to faith-based organizations.
Simon holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University, and a Juris Doctor from the Washington College of Law at American University.
In his spare time, Simon enjoys a variety of activities and pursuits, which include cooking, swimming, hiking, dancing, linguistics, road trips, visiting museums, going to comedy shows, eating ethnic foods, and being your ringer for Trivia Night at your local pub.
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'This Was Terror' — What I Saw on Sept. 11
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My friends and colleagues are generally aware that before I began working at Sojourners, I was a patent examiner at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for six and a half years. What most of them do not know, however, is that I interviewed for that job — a five-minute drive from the Pentagon — on September 11, 2001.
Early that morning, I decided to take the Metro rather than drive to the USPTO’s offices in Crystal City, Va. I reasoned that if I got the job, I would want to get some idea about my future daily commute. This would prove to be a fortunate decision later on.
Even before the end of my trip to Crystal City, I had already heard news of the first World Trade Center tower being hit. When I arrived at the office, I hoped the interviewer would remember me after our conversation. He did — but considering the significance of all that happened that day, my concerns about employment now seem minuscule in hindsight.