“What separates Jessica from the other students is her enthusiasm and her willingness to help others,” Tuason said, adding, “As an officer in the academy, she has always been very helpful to me and to the other members especially in planning lunch presentations, field trips, and fund raising activities. She has spent countless hours helping EMR students pass their practical exams. But most important is that she truly enjoys helping others.”
Tuason also commends Kim’s aptitude and eager enthusiasm.
“Jessica is a quick learner, reliable, and a hard worker. She is a valuable asset to the academy,” Tuason said.
Kim became interested in the medical field after taking a biology class at the high school.
“It was so interesting,” she said, adding that she was also amazed and intrigued with becoming a doctor after watching her uncle, Dr. Joon Choi, a physician at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank and Glendale Adventist Hospital, perform a caesarean section procedure.
Kim is the daughter of Eui Sun “Grace” and Se Hun “Sam” Kim of La Crescenta. She has two sisters, Charlene, 15, a freshman at CV High and Allyson, 9, a fourth grader at Valley View Elementary School.
Jessica Kim was born in Los Angeles and attended Monte Vista Elementary School for kindergarten and first grade, Valley View Elementary School for second through sixth grades, and Rosemont Middle School for seventh and eighth grades.
In addition to her enjoyment of learning the miracles of medicine, Kim enjoys hip-hop and jazz dancing and snowboarding.
She also is a pianist and began learning to play the piano when she was 7 years old.
After high school, she hopes to continue her medical studies at a four-year college, such as Claremont College’s Pitzer College and Scripps College, Occidental College in Los Angeles or the University of California, Irvine. She said she’d like to someday become a pediatrician.
