Honors College alum Julia Kim, ‘20, has made the most of her time since graduation. From working for Americorps to attending Harvard University to traveling to South Korea on a Fulbright Scholarship, she has achieved a great deal in the three years since graduation.
Born and raised in Portland, Julia came to Oregon State University in fall 2015 and lived in West Hall as a first-year honors student. She initially chose the Honors College because “I thought it was great to have a smaller community within the bigger community, but I was still encouraged to branch out.” During her time at Oregon State, she explored a variety of interests and activities including research at the university’s herbarium, tutoring international students and working as a resident assistant during her final two years. Additionally, she played cello in the Corvallis-OSU Symphony.
Julia graduated in spring 2020, shortly after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, with an Honors Bachelor of Science in Public Health and minors in computer science and education. She notes that her public health degree aided her in figuring out her next steps, saying, “Public health is about being open to learning and receptive to what we can do to help serve people and underserved populations.”
While Julia only received a minor in education, she still had the opportunity to student teach in 2019. Although she realized teaching wasn’t the right fit for her, she still wanted education to be a centerpiece of her future work. After graduating, she spent a year as an Americorp college access coach, where she assisted high school students with college applications and accessing community resources. Soon after, she decided to attend graduate school in education.
Julia attended Harvard University for a one-year master’s program. During her time in the program, she reconnected with her interests in music, art and storytelling. This reinvigoration inspired her to integrate storytelling into educational initiatives, leading her to apply for a Fulbright grant. She describes the experience of applying as “the hardest application that I went through.” She began the process in May 2021, and she finally submitted her application in October, working closely with Oregon State’s National and Global Scholarships Office. As a part of this application, she connected with two professors in Korea, proposing a 10-month multimedia project focusing on telling stories of elder poverty by illustrating short stories and memoirs in collaboration with the Korea Legacy Committee. She considers this to be one of the most rewarding experiences she has ever had.
Julia credits her honors experience as the foundation of her current work. Her honors thesis was a children’s book about mental health. The idea first came to Julia during an honors biology course where she had to create a children’s book about an aspect of the class. She created a parody of Harry Potter that described the Hardy Weinberg Equilibrium, a genetics concept. Several peers loved it and encouraged her to pursue similar projects. Her thesis was a children’s book titled I Live In A Cave, which she wrote with the aim to “increase awareness, to provide resources for both educators and families, and to destigmatize mental health disorders for children, especially children of color, through the context of a children’s picture storybook, paired with a family-educator companion book.” Julia notes that if she didn’t pursue this path for her honors thesis, she likely wouldn’t be where she is today. Her advice to current honors students is to continue exploring, including going to professors’ office hours, checking the Monday Message and being open to unexpected opportunities.
Looking forward, Julia says, “I want to not just serve other people and underserved communities, but also help myself and explore my own identity.” She is excited about keeping her life open to opportunities and finding new ways to empower people and create informal learning opportunities through storytelling platforms. Especially after the pandemic, she believes that technology is going to be an invaluable tool in children’s growth and learning. As she finishes up her year abroad and considers what is next for her, she knows that she wants “to go more into education that occurs outside of the classroom.”
By Jax Richards, Honors College student writer
CATEGORIES: All Stories Community Experience Homestories