{"id":100017,"date":"2023-04-25T06:27:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-25T10:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/?post_type=bu-article&#038;p=100017"},"modified":"2023-06-02T10:01:45","modified_gmt":"2023-06-02T14:01:45","slug":"the-150th-minji-kim","status":"publish","type":"bu-article","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/record\/articles\/2023\/the-150th-minji-kim\/","title":{"rendered":"The 150th: Minji Kim"},"content":{"rendered":"\t<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-leadin record-block-editorial-leadin is-style-emphasis-on-text has-media has-box has-media-focus-center-middle has-primary-theme\">\n\t\t<div class=\"container-lockup\">\n\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-leadin-media\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<img width=\"2000\" height=\"1200\" src=\"\/law\/files\/2023\/04\/150th-class-banner-no-subhed-3.jpg\" class=\"has-background-opacity has-background-opacity-80\" alt=\"Black and bronze text on a white background reading: The 150th: The Class of 2023 is ready to make its mark.\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/04\/150th-class-banner-no-subhed-3.jpg 2000w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/04\/150th-class-banner-no-subhed-3-636x382.jpg 636w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/04\/150th-class-banner-no-subhed-3-1024x614.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/04\/150th-class-banner-no-subhed-3-768x461.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/04\/150th-class-banner-no-subhed-3-1536x922.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/04\/150th-class-banner-no-subhed-3-1200x720.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/04\/150th-class-banner-no-subhed-3-992x595.jpg 992w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/04\/150th-class-banner-no-subhed-3-1500x900.jpg 1500w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/04\/150th-class-banner-no-subhed-3-1920x1152.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/04\/150th-class-banner-no-subhed-3-500x300.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/04\/150th-class-banner-no-subhed-3-1000x600.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/04\/150th-class-banner-no-subhed-3-1984x1190.jpg 1984w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/04\/150th-class-banner-no-subhed-3-1628x977.jpg 1628w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-outer\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-inner has-opacity-50\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"wp-prepress-tag\">Student Life<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"head\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMinji Kim (&#8217;23) Was Lifted Up by Her Community\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"deck\">The member of BU Law&#8217;s 150th graduating class reflects on her experience in law school.<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar record-prepress-layout-metabar\">\n\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-date\">April 25, 2023<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-credits\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul data-credit-type=\"By\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/record\/authors\/laura-ernde\/\">Laura Ernde<\/a><\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-share js-bu-prepress-share-tools\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-twitter\"><span>Twitter<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-facebook\"><span>Facebook<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-action\"><\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-introparagraph record-block-editorial-introparagraph is-style-dropcap-outlined has-dropcap has-dropcap-color-primary\"><div class=\"wp-block-editorial-introparagraph-content\"><p>The <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/about\/offices\/communications-marketing\/commencement\/\" target=\"_blank\">Commencement of the Class of 2023<\/a>\u2014BU Law\u2019s 150th graduating class\u2014makes a fitting culmination to a year of events celebrating <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/about\/150th-anniversary\/\" target=\"_blank\">the school\u2019s sesquicentennial<\/a>. Like tens of thousands who have gone before them, these graduates are poised to go out in the world and accomplish amazing things.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Studying and socializing together across various cultural backgrounds and experiences, they formed close bonds and learned about themselves and the law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image alignfarright\"><figure class=\"alignright size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/law\/files\/2023\/04\/Minji-Kim-headshot.jpg\" alt=\"Minji Kim ('23)\" class=\"wp-image-100031\" width=\"600\" height=\"675\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/04\/Minji-Kim-headshot.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/04\/Minji-Kim-headshot-565x636.jpg 565w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/04\/Minji-Kim-headshot-768x864.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/04\/Minji-Kim-headshot-734x826.jpg 734w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/04\/Minji-Kim-headshot-606x682.jpg 606w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/04\/Minji-Kim-headshot-306x344.jpg 306w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/04\/Minji-Kim-headshot-470x529.jpg 470w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/04\/Minji-Kim-headshot-612x688.jpg 612w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><figcaption>Minji Kim (&#8217;23) | Photo courtesy of Minji Kim<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>This group of JD students arrived from 21 countries and 35 states, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. They had the added challenge of beginning their studies during a pandemic. But they went the distance. They worked hard to apply themselves and find career paths that matched their interests and abilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Likewise, the LLM, masters, and certificate students hailed from 40 countries and represented professionals at every career level, from age 21 to 70. Many received intensive instruction in legal English to build a strong foundation for their studies. They will use their newfound knowledge to advance their careers and improve legal systems here and abroad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We checked in a group of students\u2014including Minji Kim (&#8217;23)\u2014during their final year to learn more about what made their time at BU Law unique and how they plan to make the most of their degrees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<section class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a record-block-editorial-q-and-a has-quaternary-theme\"><div class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-title\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-title-heading\">Q<span>&amp;<\/span>A<\/h2><h4 class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-title-subheading\">with Minji Kim (&#8217;23)<\/h4><\/div>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-question\"><span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-name\">The Record:<\/span> <span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-content\">What was your law school journey like?<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-answer\"><span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-name\">Minji Kim:<\/span> <span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-content\">I did my first year fully remote from Los Angeles. Once I got to meet people in person, I built some really great relationships. The thing I\u2019ll remember most is the community that I\u2019ve found through my involvement with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/student-life\/student-organizations\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">affinity groups<\/a>. I was copresident of First Generation Professionals, networking chair for OutLaw, and codirector of the Be Yourself Orientation.<br><br>In college, you came to class to learn things you didn\u2019t know. And then, in law school, I\u2019m expected to come to class knowing things already and have a discussion from there. That was an interesting shift for me and something that took a little time to understand. Having these strong connections really helped you get through the harder academic parts.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-question\"><span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-name\">The Record:<\/span> <span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-content\">You are a first-generation Korean-American and the first in your family to graduate college. How did you discover you wanted to go to law school?<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-answer\"><span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-name\">Minji Kim:<\/span> <span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-content\">If I\u2019m being honest, I don\u2019t think I really knew what law school was before I came. I decided to go to law school to continue intellectually challenging myself. I look back at my 1L self and think, wow, you really did not know what you\u2019re getting yourself into. That being said, I don\u2019t regret it. I\u2019m excited about the opportunities this education is going to afford me.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-question\"><span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-name\">The Record:<\/span> <span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-content\">What support did you receive?<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-answer\"><span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-name\">Minji Kim:<\/span> <span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-content\">Being the child of immigrants, I had always been afraid to ask for help or acknowledge or admit I was struggling. Law school was the first time I felt other people were willing to help me.<br><br>I will always have a special place in my heart for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/profile\/geraldine-m-muir\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Associate Dean [Geraldine] Muir<\/a>, who is just a dream. She provided me with a sense of reassurance and comfort during more difficult times at law school. She will advocate for you, listen to you, and take you seriously. I was shocked at how well supported I\u2019ve been through some personal struggles.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-bu-pullquote record-block-bu-pullquote alignwide is-style- has-image-focus-center-middle has-quaternary-theme\"><div class=\"wp-block-bu-pullquote-inner\"><figure><\/figure><blockquote><div class=\"container-lockup\"><div class=\"container-icon-outer\"><div class=\"container-icon-inner\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container-text\"><hr\/><div class=\"quote-sizing\">Being the child of immigrants, I had always been afraid to ask for help or acknowledge or admit I was struggling. Law school was the first time I felt other people were willing to help me.<\/div><footer class=\"caption\">Minji Kim (&#8217;23)<\/footer><hr\/><\/div><\/div><\/blockquote><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<section class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a record-block-editorial-q-and-a has-quaternary-theme\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-question\"><span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-name\">The Record:<\/span> <span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-content\">What advice would you have for others new to law school?<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-answer\"><span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-name\">Minji Kim:<\/span> <span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-content\">Your community is your best resource. I would be completely lost if it wasn\u2019t for my mentors. Create a board of directors for your experience, people of different backgrounds. There\u2019s a ton of informal mentorship resources at BU. I\u2019ve been so touched by how willing my peers have been to help me.<br><br>Another piece of advice is not to lose yourself in the law school world. Keep your hobbies, friendships, and your other relationships outside of law school active. It can be really easy to fall into the echo chamber of law school and feel everything related to that world is the be-all, end-all.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-question\"><span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-name\">The Record:<\/span> <span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-content\">I understand you are a powerlifter.<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-answer\"><span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-name\">Minji Kim:<\/span> <span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-content\">Powerlifting has helped me maintain a sense of identity throughout the very intense and demanding experience of law school.<br><br>When I was a personal trainer, I was a competitive powerlifter. That\u2019s about lifting as much weight as possible for one repetition. It\u2019s a mix of preparation and planning, but you also have to have blind faith at a certain point and believe you can do something that seems a little impossible. I\u2019m about 5\u20194\u2019\u2019 and was able to deadlift 315 pounds. Powerlifting has been an integral part of keeping my sanity through law school.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-question\"><span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-name\">The Record:<\/span> <span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-content\">What\u2019s next for you?<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-answer\"><span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-name\">Minji Kim:<\/span> <span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-content\">I\u2019ll be doing labor and employment law in Philadelphia upon graduation at Buchanan Ingersoll &amp; Rooney, where I was a summer associate. I love labor and employment because it deals with human capital.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-question\"><span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-name\">The Record:<\/span> <span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-content\">Your parents must be thrilled.<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-answer\"><span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-name\">Minji Kim:<\/span> <span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-content\">Yes, absolutely. It\u2019s a stereotype of immigrant families, and especially Asian immigrants, to want their kids to become doctors or lawyers, but it\u2019s true that I\u2019m their immigrant dream. They came to America with nothing, with two suitcases, and now their daughter is going to be an attorney. My dad will randomly text me all the time and say, \u201cI\u2019m so excited my daughter is gonna be an attorney,\u201d and \u201cI\u2019m so proud of you.\u201d And that definitely does feel good, especially since I\u2019m an only child and feel a lot of pressure to make my parents\u2019 struggles and journey over here worth it. This is something that I\u2019m achieving not only for myself but for my family and what they\u2019ve sacrificed.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-event-details record-block-editorial-event-details has-end-date has-location-icon\" itemscope itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/Event\"><h3 class=\"wp-block-editorial-event-details-title\"><\/h3><article class=\"wp-block-editorial-event-details-article\"><div class=\"wp-block-editorial-event-details-more-info\"><h4 class=\"wp-block-editorial-event-details-event-title\" itemprop=\"name\">Commencement 2023<\/h4><p class=\"wp-block-editorial-event-details-description\" itemprop=\"description\">The Class of 2023 celebrates its graduation.<br><br><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/about\/offices\/communications-marketing\/commencement\/\" target=\"_blank\">Event info<\/a><\/p><p class=\"button wp-block-editorial-event-details-calendar-link js-block-editorial-event-details-add-to-calendar\"><\/p><\/div><div class=\"wp-block-editorial-event-details-date-location\"><time class=\"wp-block-editorial-event-details-date\" itemprop=\"startDate\" content=\"2023-05-21T09:00:00-04:00\"><span class=\"wp-block-editorial-event-details-month\">May<\/span> <span class=\"wp-block-editorial-event-details-day\">21<\/span> <span class=\"wp-block-editorial-event-details-time\">9:00 AM<\/span><\/time><span class=\"wp-block-editorial-event-details-date-span\">to<\/span><time class=\"wp-block-editorial-event-details-date\" itemprop=\"endDate\" content=\"2023-05-21T11:00:00-04:00\"><span class=\"wp-block-editorial-event-details-month\">May<\/span> <span class=\"wp-block-editorial-event-details-day\">21<\/span> <span class=\"wp-block-editorial-event-details-time\">11:00 AM<\/span><\/time><p class=\"wp-block-editorial-event-details-location\" itemprop=\"location\" itemscope itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/Place\"><span itemprop=\"address\" itemscope itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/PostalAddress\">BU Track &amp; Tennis Center<\/span><\/p><\/div><\/article><\/div>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We checked in a group of students\u2014including Minji Kim (&#8217;23)\u2014during their final year to learn more about what made their time at BU Law unique and how they plan to make the most of their degrees.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11260,"featured_media":100030,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"bu_prepress_billboard":"{\"post_id\":100183,\"hed\":\"The 150th: Andre Campos\",\"dek\":\"Next Article\",\"class\":\"wp-block-editorial-billboard record-block-editorial-billboard is-style-half-photo has-light-overlay has-media\",\"backgroundId\":\"100195\",\"backgroundUrl\":\"\\\/law\\\/files\\\/2023\\\/04\\\/Andre-Campos-900x456.jpg\",\"backgroundType\":\"image\",\"backgroundOpacity\":\"100\"}","_bu_prepress_primary_term":"Student Life","_bu_prepress_primary_term_manual":""},"tags":[4137,1860],"bu-publication":[3742],"record-article-category":[3918,3744,4135,3786,3758],"record-topic":[],"bu_edition":[],"media_type":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/100017"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/bu-article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11260"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100017"}],"version-history":[{"count":33,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/100017\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":101257,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/100017\/revisions\/101257"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100030"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100017"},{"taxonomy":"bu-publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-publication?post=100017"},{"taxonomy":"record-article-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/record-article-category?post=100017"},{"taxonomy":"record-topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/record-topic?post=100017"},{"taxonomy":"bu_edition","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu_edition?post=100017"},{"taxonomy":"media_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media_type?post=100017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}