All-Academic Senior Class: DaeOck Kim - Maharishi School

Name: DaeOck Kim

Age:18

Parents: AeIh Kim(Mother), ChangJoon Kim(Father)

GPA: 3.81

Class rank:

Co-curricular activities: Robotics, Rocketry, Music project

Community activities: Bucheon science fair, Animal shelter,

Future plans/goals: Operating System engineer

1) If you were to give the education you received during high school a letter grade, what letter grade would you give it? Why?

I would like to give myself B+, as I achieved what I wanted and got a satisfying grade during my high school years. However, I also regret it in some way since I feel I could have done better if I devoted more time.

2) What do you regard as the strengths of your education?

From my youth, I used to find my strengths in mathematics. Once I learned a concept, I was able to derive other concepts or formulas utilizing what I've just learned.

3) What do you regard as the weaknesses of your education?

I have struggled a lot on subjects that heavily rely on language and memorizing, such as literature and anatomy; although they were interesting ones.

4) What are some of your fondest high school memories?

The most impressive memory during high school is when I went to the First Robotics match this school year. For a few months, our team worked hard to finish our robot. Especially since it was my first experience using Android Studio using the computer vision engine, Vuforia, I was excited since it felt like I'm actually working in the field. Even though we didn't get a good result, it was one of the most important experiences in high school.

5) What instructor has had the most influence on your education?

Among the many teachers I have met, my CCLS (Creative Consciousness and Life Skills) teacher, Dr. David Pohlman has influenced me the most. Both as a teacher and one of dorm parents, in school and dorm, having many conversations about certain topics, I could think about bias and ethical paradoxes. Through those talks we had, I could enhance my critical thinking, which has been a lot of help in my life.

6)Who are your role models? Why?

My role model is Linus Benedict Torvalds, father of Linux. My goal is developing my own open source project operating system. In this regard, Linux Torvalds is almost similar. Not only did he start OS development, he made it open source, benefiting almost all the people in the world using computing devices.

7) What advice do you have to offer to incoming freshmen?

I would like to advise them to make a plan on how and when they are going to study. Being a high-schooler might be tough since we need to toil ourselves more in academics. However, it's not so much of a burden if we manage our time. There are many events and chances to make good memories as well, such as prom and spirit days. With an appropriate plan we made, I believe they could work hard and enjoy their high school at the same time.

8) If you could start high school again, what changes would you make?

Since I started high school in America in the winter semester, I lost so much time and opportunities. As I found the way I could get close to my dream in the US, if I can go back to my end of middle school, I would have started high school years earlier than I did.