If you were to go back and read the letter Ryan Kim wrote to his future self freshman year, you would be met with a detailed vision: a medical practitioner, pursuing his love for STEM at a school close to home.
His current status, four years later, as a journalism major set to start at the University of Wisconsin–Madison this fall, demonstrates a bit of a change in plans.
Kim said he always felt becoming a doctor was a safe option, but was drawn to journalistic writing.
“Since middle school, I’ve always been attracted to stories that make the reader feel like they’re in the space [being described in an article],” Kim said. “I think being able to be transported by writing is an amazing experience to read, and it’s just as wonderful to write like that.”
Though Kim has always been a reader — one of his favorite authors is John Branch, whose descriptive language is something Kim tries to emulate in his own stories — he didn’t find writing to be all that appealing until the summer before his sophomore year. It was then that he participated in USC’s Annenberg Youth Academy. During his time in the program, Kim found that writing stories could be just as enjoyable as reading them.
“That academy was my first experience with journalism. I went into it assuming I was going to hate writing,” Kim said. “But to interview and have these conversations with people turned out to be such a nice way to connect.”
Shortly after his experience at AYA, Kim joined his school paper, Santa Monica High School’s The Samohi. Though he looks back on his experiences with fondness — playing cards with his fellow writers after a completed issue and publishing stories about the orchestra and theatre departments are specific fond memories — teaching himself how to use programs like InDesign presented some challenges.
“I did my own research, pulling out the most in-depth tutorials that I could find and working over winter break so I could improve my skills,” Kim said.
Even after finding his place within the student life section, some of Kim’s more unconventional, “worldly” interests just didn’t mesh with a high school newspaper’s local focus. That’s what led him to HS Insider, a space that came to host Kim’s articles about everything from dementia villages to classical music, the latter being directly based on his sister, Rachael Kim, a professional violinist at Colburn School.
When I spoke with Rachael Kim, she clearly took pride in her brother’s work. “I think [Kim] writes in a way that encourages you to look deeper into topics. It was really special to be one of his inspirations,” she said.
“It’s going to be an interesting experience for him to live in Wisconsin, so I hope he makes the best of his four years there,” she said on her brother’s full-ride scholarship.
This summer, Kim will prepare for his foray into collegiate journalism by taking full advantage of his internship for the L.A. Times HS Insider. He said he hopes “to bond with fellow interns” by collaborating on stories and playing lots of card games.
“Hopefully, this will be the start of many internships and new beginnings for me,” Kim said. “I think journalism is one of the most fun ways to get a conversation going, to meet new people, and learn new perspectives. You can’t do that with most jobs, so I’m happy to be in a field where talking to people is required.”
