As an international student, Saesun Kim '15 was first drawn to the University of Minnesota Morris for its affordability, and soon found his people, place, and purpose here.
“I really enjoy Morris and I’ve gained a lot from Morris,” says Kim who triple majored in physics, mathematics, and statistics.
Kim was impressed with how UMN Morris made sure international students could easily connect with each other and the campus. He appreciated that there were plenty of opportunities to interact with others, which made a difference in his experience as a student. He also found the liberal arts approach at UMN Morris to be an advantage because he took classes outside of his majors, which proved very helpful, not only during his time as a student, but after.
“I think that it’s good to have a diverse education, like different classes and everything. It’s just a process to find what you want to do… I think it’s a process for us to know who we are,” says Kim.
In fact, Kim has this advice for new students who may be uncertain about starting their college journey: “I know it is scary but try not to fear too much and just kind of enjoy the process of learning who you are.”
For Kim, two things about UMN Morris really stood out to him: research opportunities and communication. Kim was excited that he could participate in research projects right away.
“People kind of underestimate how big [of a deal] this is,” he says. It was something he really appreciated when he went on to graduate school where, he recalls, it wasn’t possible to participate in research until the professor was confident that you knew the subject well or until you had built a relationship with the professor first and only then asked the professor if you could join in the research they were doing. Kim found this to be in stark contrast to UMN Morris and was glad for his Morris experience.
“I was able to do a lot of research [as an undergraduate student] that helped me out.”
Communication was important to Kim and he took advantage of the many opportunities he had at UMN Morris to strengthen his communication skills, like working at the dining hall, organizing student events, participating in student government, and assistant teaching a class.
“At Morris [there were] more opportunities to … try to explain something or try to … understand what people want,” says Kim.
This has carried over to his post graduate and professional work. He draws on these communication skills to effectively communicate about his research to people in a way that they will understand it.
After graduating from UMN Morris, Kim went on to complete his master’s and PhD in physics. He is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where he is working on the miniaturization of quantum technology.