Teacher of the Week: Mr. Kim
Platform Post Jeju is excited to come back with the very first teacher starring in ‘Teacher of the Week’ for this year, Mr. Kim!
Background info. (What did you before you came to BHA? Where are you from? Major in college, etc.)
“I was born and raised in California. I majored in English literature. Initially, I majored in oil painting but it got too expensive and I switched majors to English. When I was in high school, I actually didn’t like English but my love for English grew at college. After I finished Undergraduate school, I went to Graduate school and studied Education to become a teacher. After I finished with school, I knew I wanted to work in Korea because my parents were Korean. Before coming to Branksome, I taught at a high school in Cheonan, worked at a hagwon doing college counselling, and finally came to BHA this year.”
What were you like as a high school student?
“I don’t know if I should be saying this but I wasn’t a diligent student. My mindset before juniour year was if I got an A without studying it was awesome and if I got a C it was also awesome because I didn’t study. When I was a juniour, I realised that I had to get it together to get into college and I regret not studying beforehand. As a student, I was more focused on bands playing the guitar, skateboarding in good Californian weather, and hanging out with friends. At school I was on the wrestling team and debate team.”
What brought you to BHA? Do you enjoy life here at Jeju, how long has it been since you lived in Jeju?
“First of all, I wanted to stay in Korea. The main reason I came to Jeju was because of my fiancé. I am actually getting married soon and my wife is from Jeju. She actually worked at BHA and introduced me to this school. I have been at BHA since August and I am happy that I came here. Work can get busy here but I love it. BHA is the ideal place to be as a teacher. The campus is absolutely beautiful with wonderful teachers.”
As an English and Humanities teacher, what do you love about your teaching area?
“Well, Humanities is a new subject to me. It is a challenge but what I love about humanities is the content. The topics are just so interesting such as, Human rights and Imperialism. I’ve been teaching English for 5-6 years and I love writing. I enjoy teaching students how to communicate and create. I find writing romantic because every time you write, you are literally creating something new.”
What is your goal as a teacher?
“As a teacher, it’s all about the writing. It is difficult for me even as an adult to truly say what I want to say. My goal as a teacher would be to help students communicate and help students truly understand what they want to say. I believe writing is an useful skill to have.”
Do you have any future goals in general?
“At the moment, my mind is occupied right now with my personal life. I want to be a good husband and a good father. I would like to have kids in the future. I am thankful being placed in a community with many teachers that are married with kids. Not only that I can learn how to be a good teacher, I can learn how to be a good husband and father from them.”
What is one thing that not everyone might know about you?
“I love music and I write my own my own songs, however, I am very shy to show people my work. Also, everyone might know this but I absolutely love Mr. Michael Kim.”
Platform Post Jeju would once again like to thank Mr. Kim for doing this interview. Congratulations on your upcoming marriage, we wish you the best of luck!