She's Focused, She's Ambitious and Today, She's a High-School Graduate

In Celina Kim’s neighborhood, not everyone makes it to commencement day.

Growing up in Tillicum meant seeing drug deals and hearing gunshots on a regular basis. Police cars were a common presence. Many of the kids Kim started Tillicum Elementary with 12 years ago have long since dropped out.

Some are in jail.

One was on “America’s Most Wanted.”

Today, Kim graduates from Clover Park High School with honors–and a 4.0 grade-point average. She has a full ride to the University of Washington, where she plans to study biology and then go on to dental school.

Celina Kim has defied the odds.

“My neighborhood is really bad,” she said. “But it gave me a reason to do better.

“I want to be an example to other people growing up somewhere not so great. You can step out and not live in expectations.”

Kim said that she became what she calls “a precise perfectionist” early on.

Her parents, Myung and Yunlye Kim, emigrated from Korea shortly before she was born, and purchased a house “about 20 seconds” from Tillicum Elementary so Celina could walk to school when the time came.

That way, she wouldn’t miss a day.

And she didn’t.

In 12 years spanning from Tillicum to Woodbrook Middle School and then Clover Park, Kim was never absent. Not once. She wasn’t ever tardy to class, either.

“They pushed me so much,” she said of her parents. “Maybe past the point that I needed to be pushed. I thought it was all for them, that I had to get an 'A' for them. But looking back, I know I got an 'A' for me.”

Kim said that it has been frustrating at times to impart the differences of an American education to traditional Korean parents, mainly the challenge of maintaining a 4.0 while taking such classes as Advanced Placement English, Government and Physics.

But, she admitted, “If they hadn’t pushed me, I don’t think I would have had that motivation. I would have said an 'A-' was fine.”

Clover Park principal John Seaton said that Kim is very driven–in a positive way.

“She is probably one of the most upbeat young men or women I have ever been around,” he said. “You just can’t help but appreciate her presence.”

Kim said she is closest to her brother, Jin Kyu, who graduated from Clover Park in 2004 and went to the UW. He now does medical research for the university–and helps support his family. In addition to providing Kim with a cellphone and car, he offered to give her money over the summer so she could enjoy her last few months of being a kid.

He also pays some of their parents’ bills. Myung does not work, and Yunlye cuts hair.

“If he wasn’t there, I don’t know what I would do,” she said.

Having such a model sibling wasn’t always easy, Kim said, but she has always strived to do better than him.

“I want to do research, too,” she said with a laugh. “I’ll intern there, do better than him and maybe become his boss.”

Kim initially planned to attend UCLA but did not think she would have enough financial aid.

“I knew I couldn’t count on my mom’s money,” she said. “It was either scholarships or no college at all.”

In the end, she had enough scholarships to go there–among them were the Franciscan Health System and Korean Women’s Association scholarships–but said that UW is the right choice.

“There’s a reason why everything happens,” she said.

Kim’s favorite part of high school has been her involvement with ASB leadership. She was a class officer her first three years, and then won the election for student-body president as a senior. She was also a member of the Lakewood Youth Council, Key Club, and National Honor Society, swim team, golf team and a varsity cheerleader.

She particularly has enjoyed defying the stereotypes of the latter.

“I say I have a 4.0, and people say ‘a cheerleader?’ ” she said. “They really don’t believe me.”

Youth Council advisor Dennis Higashiyama said that Kim has been surprising people for years. He has known her since she was in elementary school.

“She simply demolishes all of the stereotypes of students who say they cannot achieve academic success if they come from the Tillicum neighborhood,” he said.

Kim said that she plans to move back to Tillicum after college–“I told my mom I’d buy the house from her”–because she wants to make a difference in the lives of the people who have helped her. Among her plans are starting a scholarship fund for children from the neighborhood.

“I really like where I live,” she said. “Just because the majority of the neighborhood isn’t great, that’s like saying that expectations should limit someone’s potential. I wouldn’t mind sending my kids down the same pathway–they can go beyond what people think people from Tillicum should grow up to be.”

After all, Kim has done that herself.

“I feel so blessed.”