As a liberal arts college, Hamilton does not offer a major in journalism, but as Crystal Kim ’15 has discovered, there are a number of other opportunities on and off campus that can be taken advantage of by aspiring journalists. In addition to serving as an editor-at-large and writer for Hamilton’s student newspaper, The Continental, Kim was awarded a stipend from the Summer Internship Support Fund, which is managed by Hamilton’s Maurice Horowitch Career Center, to pursue an internship at the KoreAm Journal.
KoreAm is an award-winning monthly Korean American culture and news magazine with more readers than any other publication of its kind. Regarding her internship stipend funding, Kim remarked that “nothing can put a price on experience, but I would definitely not have been able to do this internship on my own if it was not for the funding I received.”
As an editorial intern at KoreAm, Kim has had the opportunity to work with both the online and print versions of the magazine, and she appreciates this exposure to both sides of the business. She researches and writes stories to post on KoreAm’s blog, conducts and transcribes interviews, proofreads and fact checks, and scours the web searching for photos and quotes that can be used by the magazine.
Kim has even been able to write articles for publication in print issues of KoreAm, including a story on the 30th anniversary of the Vincent Chin case for the magazine’s July issue. Her writing for the KoreAm website has covered issues ranging from the East Sea political tension between Japan and Korea to the Korean American response to the Affordable Health Care Act.
As if being published in an award-winning magazine wasn’t exciting enough, Kim has also been involved in a number of the magazine’s other high profile endeavors. She interviewed documentary writer and producer Curtis Chin, famed Angry Asian Man blogger Phil Yu and U.S. Congresswomen Judy Chu. One of the highlights of her internship was the opportunity to attend a prerelease press-screening for an upcoming film written by two of Hollywood’s biggest comedy screenwriters. This combination of serious news and entertainment makes Kim’s internship at KoreAm an incredible place to work, she says.
While the wide range of opportunities at Kim’s internship have made for a rewarding summer experience, she was most surprised by one of her internship’s more ordinary duties – news research. “I constantly get to work on my writing skills and stay informed on what’s going on in the world,” she said, noting that “I’m surprised to learn how much I enjoy keeping up to date on relevant stories, something that I wasn’t particularly involved in before.” She said she would impress upon her fellow students how important it is to stay informed on current events and to avoid becoming trapped in the “bubble” that life at college can sometimes become.
Kim’s internship has made her give serious consideration to a career in publishing, but as a rising sophomore with an interest in sociology and education, she wants to keep all potential doors open for the time being. Kim is now considering combining her love of writing and education by looking into the field of education research journal editing.
Kim is a graduate of Coronado High School (Texas).
