Jee Hoon Kim
Senior age 25
Major: Information Technology

“I came to Florida from South Korea as a high school student so I didn’t know what to expect from College.” I moved from a big city school in Korea to a small-town high school in Auburndale. My English skills were not very good so I needed my sister translate conversations between my counselor and me. My very first class in America was a Spanish class and it was tough because I could hardly even speak English. A few people from class helped me out and I began to do better and started to pick up Spanish and English, “FINALLY”.

After high school, I went straight to UCF and stayed there for a year. I lived on campus but I wasn’t placed in the freshman dorms because when I came here, I was a junior in high school in South Korea, but due to a mix-up with my transcripts, I was a freshman in high school. Since I was older than the other kids, they decided to put me into upper-classmen dorms. I wasn’t able to socialize with other freshman, but I was able to make friends through my roommates, who were juniors. While I was in Orlando, I got a job at a place called Outdoor Adventures and made lifelong friends who I still talk to today. UCF was full of good memories, but I decided to a switch community college to finish my Associate’s degree. After that, I took a job at a clinical laboratory in West Palm Beach, working there for a year. I applied to several Florida colleges to work towards my Bachelor degree. I didn’t know too much about FSU back then, but I found out FSU had opportunities made me take the leap.

When I first got to FSU, I found my roommates on craigslist and they ended up being great people who I still live with today. I only knew a handful of people at FSU when I arrived, but eventually I got a job at convenience store on campus. When I came here, I was a Biological Science major but ended up switching to Information Technology before my first semester started. I have met all my good friends through the IT program here. Through them, I joined organizations such as AITP and the Cybersecurity club.

FSU has a lot of history and the campus is beautiful. When I pictured colleges in America, I pictured places like Florida State, not UCF. Making friends here is easy, especially because I wanted to expand my group of friends and meet interesting people. I love spending my time outdoors and I asked myself, “How can I meet people who share the same interests as me?” So I ended up looking into clubs here on Campus.”

Parks and Recreation

I found out that FSU hosts a club day for all the sports clubs on campus. I realized there were a lot of sports clubs that I didn’t know existed. I talked to a few different club tables and I ended up joining the Scuba Diving, Rock Climbing, and Sailing clubs. To this day, I go rock climbing 3-4 times a week with my club members. I scuba dive once a month taking trips to nearby places like Panama City, but we’ve also been as far as South Florida. For the Sailing club, we meet up once a week to go sailing. At first, you learn about the boats and techniques before you’re allowed to go out by yourself. I became thoroughly involved with the clubs, eventually becoming an officer in the Scuba club. The people I have met in these sports clubs are amazing and kind. If you’re interested in meeting positive people who you can have a great time with, try to get involved in a sports club!

How to stay afloat

“People think college is going to be about partying all the time, it can actually be pretty lonely at first.” Once you make friends, you get a lot of new privacy you didn’t have with your parents. When you make friends, you start spending a lot time with them and “that’s when the fun really begins”. Once you make friends you get to a better place mentally and try to be active. Eventually you start joining clubs and participating in school events. “I’ve seen a few people coming in as freshman who were super excited about college but didn’t realize it could be so lonely in a dorm. People can get depressed easily from being lonely so it is important to get involved. A lot of people are oblivious to the amount of events and clubs that FSU offers. The school won’t always be able to point you in the right direction; you have to make a conscious effort to put yourself out there.

There is so much available to students on campus and around town. You just need to look for opportunities. If you can’t bring yourself to make an effort, you won’t get the full Seminole experience. Being a Seminole has given me experiences that I will remember for a lifetime. “I’m proud to be a Florida State Seminole. I couldn’t have asked for a better college experience.”