From plane crashes to egg shortages, the bad news that streams ceaselessly into our private phones feels overwhelming. It’s logical to feel paranoid. The politics aren’t helping.

But being Korean, as far as I understand it, means knowing something about survival, for better and for worse. We’ve lived in a state of chronic war since the ceasefire. There’s little good that comes of it, but at least it’s drilled emergency preparedness and crisis response into society here. So, I try to remember what I still know and can do.

That includes swimming, sailing and wildlife first aid. Skills I picked up in the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York. At 18, I worked as a camp counselor at an all-girls Christian sleepaway camp in upstate New York. Located on an island surrounded by a freshwater lake, this camp was one of the toughest jobs I’ve had. Each Sunday, boatloads of bright-eyed parents would arrive with their daughters as we counselors greeted them with our welcome song. About 100 new campers, aged 8 to 18, stayed with us for one-week sessions.

The girls were tough. To my awe and disbelief, one of my 8-year-olds, a wiry girl with a crown of blonde hair, completed a 10-mile run for her Advanced Running badge. A few teenage campers earned their Advanced Wildlife badge by bushwhacking or cutting their trails through woods in the High Peaks.

Counselor training was fittingly absurd. What if a deer tramples your co-counselor, breaking her leg? What if you run into a bear while pooing in the woods? What if a camper breaks her collarbone while water skiing? After three lessons, we were certified to teach archery and administer “wildlife first aid." On the first day, counselors performed the........

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