Robin Grant enjoys life as she gets ready to graduate

ROYAL CITY - Robin Grant has artistic talent, musical talent and is academically gifted - a top 10 student and perhaps No. 1. There's not much more a senior preparing for graduation could want.

Most seniors, that is.

Robin is American by adoption-naturalization. She is Korean by birth. Now that she's 18 she can legally start to seek the birth parents she never knew and learn about the life she might have had.

Robin's parents, Curtis and Nancy, are supportive of their daughter's quest. They've never held anything back from her.

Besides, Robin said recently, "It's obvious I'm adopted. I look different."

Robin's quest is not an effort to separate from her adoptive family. She loves the Grants and her grandparents Pirie and Jane Grant. She will always be a part of them.

Through the years, Curtis and Nancy have encouraged Robin and their 21-year-old Korean born son Noah to learn the Korean culture and language. The children have made two trips to Korea, one with Nancy and the other by themselves.

Here, the Grants have sent Robin and Noah to KIDS (Korean Identity Development Society) Camps. They consist of one week with Korean people, including adoptees, and the culture and foods.

Robin was in grade school in 2005 when the first trip to Korea was made. It was a cultural exchange organized by former Lt. Gov. Brad Owen, who has two adopted Korean children.

The group totaled 15. There was a tour of the Korean capital of Seoul, where Robin was born.

Robin doesn't remember much about that trip, but she has fond recollections of the trip she and Noah made when she was a sophomore. Sometimes, while Noah slept in the early hours, she scurried about Seoul shopping.

Robin fit right in. She liked the food, the music and the atmosphere. Learning from seventh grade on, she could speak some Korean and understand it better.

"But the Koreans can tell I'm American; I have a heavy accent," she said.

Nancy added: "She knows enough to really enjoy Korean dramas on TV."

One difference Robin noticed between the Koreans and herself was demeanor. She was used to smiling and waving. They didn't do that, walking quietly about their business.

Still, Robin remembers feeling sadness when she was leaving Korea to return home.

The way Robin understands her story is that she was born to a pair of unmarried 19-year-olds. Unlike America, Korean society frowns hard upon such a thing. The teens needed to marry or give up the child.

"They didn't have good jobs, and they thought they couldn't give me a good life," Robin said.

At the age of two days, Robin went to a foster home, which is customary for adopted Korean babies. At eight months she flew to Seattle, escorted by an airline pilot's wife. The Grants were ecstatic when they met their new baby at the airport.

"She has been a joy in our lives," Nancy said.

About five years after Robin arrived, the Grants were surprised by a birth daughter, Gina, now 13.

"We were content with the two children we had, but we were blessed," Nancy said.

The Grants farm about 12 miles east of Royal. Robin became a farm girl - sort of. She rode tractors as a child and followed her dad around. But farming didn't stick.

"I'm not strong," Robin said. "When dad digs with a shovel and I try to dig too, I get tired right away. I'm afraid of animals - horses and cows."

Robin combined intelligence and study to become a top student in her class from pre-school through high school. All Nancy ever told her about school was that homework was tougher the longer it went undone.

"I do it right away when I get home," Robin said. "I'm that way with everything. I don't like to procrastinate. When I get a text or an email, I answer right back."

There was a time, about fifth grade, when Robin started to feel different. She even had moments when she wished she'd been born white - to fit in better.

"I really didn't know who I was," she said.

But she did fit in. She participated in various sports in middle school. She went on to other interests in high school, deciding that the commitment to sports was too intense. She did Knowledge Bowl, and she's been the ASB publicity officer.

Robin made the ultimate commitment to be part of the Royal High Dance Team her last two years. The girls on the team practiced in summer, early hours before school, on holidays and vacation breaks.

Robin edited the music for the team.

For the first time, Royal placed at state this year, taking second. And Royal was declared the academic state champion.

Robin, who was ecstatic about the results, thought of her teammates as her family.

Robin has been declared a Washington Scholar. She has received the Good Citizenship Award from the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Robin has been accepted by Seattle Pacific University, and SPU has awarded her the $18,000 President's Scholarship. After reviewing a portfolio of 10 pieces of her work, SPU also awarded her a $1,000 art scholarship.

Life for Robin has turned out about as her birth parents wished - as the Grants wished. There is only one more thing to do.

"I really want to know where I came from," she said.

The Grants were given Robin's birth information when they received her. She knows her birth parents names' and the back story.

"I wish I had just a picture," she said. "I'd like to know who I look like."

The adoption rules in Korea are such that Robin would not be helped in her search until she turned 18. She can start.

But she's nervous. She may be rejected. Her birth parents may not have married each other and may have separate families.

"I may have full brothers and sisters or half brothers and sisters," she said. "I don't know whose lives I might be upsetting."

Maybe her own. She knows she'll be saddened if her birth parents decide to keep her in the past.

Robin would like to tell her birth parents about the life she's enjoyed with her mom and dad, Curtis and Nancy Grant.

"I'm hoping they'll approve of me," she said.