By VANESSA LANGDON
News Editor
He can be seen bouncing into class with more energy packed into his slight build than all the students in his class have combined. His lectures are a theatrical event, with lots of arm movement, hopping, and pounding on the board to make age-old theories come to life. His communications classes at The College of Saint Rose may be technical theory and research based, but his animation would lead one to think he was talking about the most recent upset in extra innings of a baseball game.
Jin Kim, 43, has taught at Saint Rose for five years, but it was a long journey from his hometown in Seoul, South Korea to his little office adorned with homemade art by his 4-year-old son.
“I was originally born and raised in a big city: Seoul,” Kim said. When he was in elementary school, he lived for two years on a very small island and two years after that in a very small country town.
That transition from the city to the country was one of the major turning points in his life.
“I just ran on the earth, almost like I was savage. I was very close to the nature there,” he said.
Kim considers himself a fan of culture – a self-proclaimed film buff – but the simpler times are still fresh in his mind.
“I like city, I like civilization, and culture; but that moment, that four years, I was really close to something,” he remembered. “When I talking to you I can see the sky and seas and all the fishes, and that was like my big memories.”
That little boy found his way to the United States in May of 2002 to pursue the end result of many career possibilities.
“I wanted to be president and I dreamed two jobs also, also I wanted to be a doctor, so I was pretty ambitious,” he said with a laugh.
After earning his bachelor’s degree in mass communication at Seoul Yonsei University, Kim applied and was accepted to Indiana University.
While there, Kim worked hard to earn a degree, but his adventurous spirit wasn’t stifled by being in a new country far away from home – he was active on campus on an ultimate Frisbee team.
“When I was in Iowa, number one: studying, number two: playing ultimate Frisbee.”
From there, he stayed in the Midwest and pursued his doctorate degree. He attended the University of Iowa for five years before graduating with a doctorate in communications studies. While pursuing that degree he met the love of his life.
“We did kind of like a ‘You Got Mail’ thing,” he said of the beginning of his relationship with Yeunjoo Choy.
The two met while he was home in South Korea on a vacation from school and started seeing each other while continents were between them.
After months of emails, Skype calls, and visits, they decided to get married right before he began teaching at Hope College in Michigan. The small Michigan college was his first foray into teaching and was the stepping stone to his journey further east, eventually ending in Albany.
While in Michigan, Kim made an impact, bringing new programs to the College.
“Jin Kim introduced a new area of study here – close analysis of social media. This added greater intellectual breadth and depth to our media studies program,” said James Herrick, a Guy Vander Jagt professor of communication at Hope College who worked with Kim during his time in Michigan.
The two became closer than just colleagues while teaching alongside each other because of their shared “wacky sense of humor.”
“We were academic colleagues at first, but then Jin and his wife Yuenjoo became friends of my wife and myself, despite the fact that they were quite a few years younger,” Herrick said.
Kim left the school five years ago, but the couples still keep in touch via email, sharing photos of their families.
Kim’s personality left such an impact that Herrick was sad to see him leave.
“I wish we could have kept him on here at Hope College, but we did not have a tenure track position to offer him. I like him as a person and thought he was a good addition to our dep[artment].”
Herrick said that Kim’s brand of academic seriousness and humor is what makes his teaching successful.
“I have always thought of Jin Kim as a unique combination of intellect, humor and energy,” he said.
That humor and energy and overall love of life translates to his classroom presence.
“During class, he is always very animated about things, which can be quite entertaining sometimes,” said Maria McNamara, a current student of Kim’s. “I think that’s the most memorable characteristic, because it tends to make all of us laugh or at least smile when he gets really over-excited and animated about things.”
But his classes at Saint Rose are not “easy A’s” in the slightest.
“I definitely thought that Intro to Com Theory was one of the most challenging classes I’ve taken here,” said McNamara of the first class she took with Kim.
Katie Klimacek is currently taking that introduction to communication theory class with Kim, and when she approached him after class recently to discuss an idea, she was reminded of what a caring and competent professor he is.
“I think that a lot of students are hesitant to approach him individually, but if anything he is even more helpful and engaging at that time. It is clear that Dr. Kim is an incredibly intelligent man and knows what he is talking about,” Klimacek said. “It was helpful and somewhat enjoyable to listen to him talk about such a specific idea with such details and knowledge. It was if he had known what I was going to ask and prepared materials before I met with him.”
That preparation and knowledge that he has doesn’t keep him from joking around with his classes.
“He is really good at laughing at himself if he makes a mistake. A student once pointed out a spelling mistake on a slide and his response was ‘that is what you would call a spelling error,’ but it was just so funny the way he responded to it. He makes jokes during class and they are sometimes cheesy but so funny,” said Klimacek.
“Sometimes it’s just the way he says something that make the class laugh and he seems to have no problem laughing along. I also like the phrases he uses. One of my favorites being how he refers to major points and topics as a ‘big potato.’”
While his classes are difficult and his standards high, the students still respect Kim.
“He has an excellent reputation as an outstanding teacher, scholar, and colleague,” said Leroy Bynum, dean of arts and humanities at Saint Rose.
“I’ve heard nothing but wonderful things by students and colleagues alike about Dr. Kim.”
Kim has worked with students in the masters program on their thesis projects and one student, Ryan Grant, worked with Kim on his 50-page article, “Is YouTube a Legitimate Public Sphere? An Analysis of When Citizen Journalism Meets Perceived Police Brutality.”
“I went into the thesis process stressed and worried like most college students would,” Grant said. “After the first meeting with Dr. Kim I was amazed at how fluent he was in guiding me. He made the process much easier than I expected and I can’t thank him enough for that.”
Grant still use the information he learned form the three classes he took with Kim and the two stay in contact via email on a bi-weekly, if not on a weekly, basis. Grant said that Kim is all business but that his classes are a dialogue-based environment.
One of Kim’s major philosophies regarding teaching is the importance of reading the required materials.
“Spread the word: my rule number one is do the readings before coming to class,” Kim said.
During our almost two hour interview, his repeated this mantra ad nauseam but his reasoning is not to burden students with endless hours of reading but to ensure that class time is used effectively.
“I think lecture is important, but that should be one portion, teaching should be number one – lecture, and number two – discussion, the conversation,” Kim said.
He is aware that his classes are hard and that the workload can at times be heavy.
“Hey students, you’re not the only one who’s working in the middle of the night. Professors, at least Kim is working – reading, preparing the lectures,” Kim said.
His work ethic doesn’t go unnoticed by his colleagues at Saint Rose.
“Many a weekend I see Dr. Kim at work in his office, but he always has a time for a chat,” said professor Karen McGrath, who works with Kim at the College.
McGrath was on the search committee that interviewed Kim along with the other applicants when replacing former professor Jeannine Pondozzi. McGrath’s first impression of Kim was that he was smart and capable.
“We wanted someone with a broader, more current, media teaching and research background,” she said of what they had in mind for Pondozzi’s replacement.
Since starting at the college, McGrath has seen growth in his teaching style.
“He is has become even more engaging and adapts to the students in his classes as he grows and they change,” she said.
Kim credits this change to his son Andrew: what would he want Andrew’s teachers to do?
“I want the instructor, I want professor, to treat my kid as individual,” he said. “Students are somebody’s daughter, somebody’s son. That popped in my mind from time to time.”
Andrew is not only a reality check of sorts for Kim when he finds himself frustrated with students who don’t do the reading, but he is also a lightening rod for examples that connect professor and students.
“Every class I’m using his name and narrative stories. I can’t help it, because also it works, it is pretty approachable, I think,” he said.
The love that Kim feels for Andrew is written across his face each time he mentions his son – he even has what he calls a “shrine” to Andrew on the walls of his office. Currently the 4-year-old has a fascination with “Star Wars.” During my meeting with Kim, when Andrew was mentioned he began talking faster, as if he couldn’t say kind things about the littlest man in his life fast enough.
He jumped out of his seat and proceeded to play an Andrew-inspired “guess the Star Wars character” game. On the walls were crude but cute child interpretations of famous “Star Wars” characters. Kim praised Yoda, R2D2, and Darth Vader and each time one was guessed right he broke out into applause – that’s how powerful Andrew’s effect is on his father.
“I am a huge film buff. There are so many movies, but really, seriously taking care of playing with Andrew is much more fun than watching movies,” Kim said with a glint in his eye – he was missing his son even in that moment.
The balance of work and home weighs heavily on Kim.
“I heard that the divorce rate for the faculty in Harvard is crazy, it’s like 80 percent or something. I don’t have number, but workaholic- that’s good, that’s passion it’s what makes me improve our civilization,” he said.
The workaholic attitude leads to texts from his wife asking when he’ll be home on a daily basis because of how wrapped up he gets in his work.
“How can I make balance? I can’t, there’s no way. I just try,” said Kim of his efforts to both be present and a good dad to his son as well as to educate to the best of his abilities.
That balance is further complicated by his dedication to his faith. Religion was one of the things that brought Kim together with his wife and since then she has helped that faith to blossom.
The couple joined the Korean Catholic Church of Albany soon after moving to Menands, just outside the city.
“I’m pretty involved and I am a photographer,” said Kim of his duties as photographer of special events and activities.
This past summer he photographed a visit the church members took to The Pyramid Life Center in Paradox, New York. Those photos were then published in the Catholic Newspaper, The Evangelist. Kim had forgotten about his published photos until his colleague, professor Cailin Brown, asked him if he knew the individuals in the photo that he actually took.
In addition to his photography and videography duties, he also works with the youth of the parish to help guide them in their faith.
“He has [a] beautiful smile which makes everyone feel comfortable,” said YongJae Lee, a parishioner and youth group director of the church who has known Kim for three years.
The two met through the church and see each other weekly at services. Through the church, Lee discovered one of Kim’s hidden talents – playing the Korean drums.
“He is a really good player, I would say he would have been a professional if he were not in the current position,” said Lee of hearing Kim play the instrument for the first time this year.
Kim played the Korean drums this past summer for the first time since he left Korea 15 years ago. He keeps this part of his life more hidden because of its lack of popularity.
“I can’t show you for two reasons – number one, I don’t have a thing right now,” he said. “Number two you would hate it because it’s too loud – it’s really really loud. But this Christmas we are going to perform in front of our church members.”
His love of the Korean drums started while playing them while attending college in Korea, but the skill lay dormant for many years.
“I grabbed the Korean drums in my church and I play the drums and people got surprised. ‘Jin, I thought you was just professor, just quiet, just cat,” he explained.
The sound of the Korean drums is not quiet or catlike and his energy was on full display while rocking out.
“He was fully immersed into performance,” said Lee of the first time he saw Kim play the instrument. “He did head banging and did a lot of encouragement shouting to the team members.”
Picking up the Korean drums again was one way that Kim returned to his Korean heritage, something that he and his wife frequently discuss. She believes that Kim maybe more American than he thinks.
“She says, ‘Jin you like American’ and I’m like, what you mean, I’m Korean, I’m still original, ‘but the way you talk the way, you think, the way you comment on society and individual – you are pretty individualistic, you are American,’ oh my god what do you mean by this, are you real Korean and I’m fake Korean? There are some gaps,” said Kim.
While leaving home – and his culture – behind in 2002 was not easy, he never experienced homesickness. The only time he experienced a yearning for South Korea was when his parents were ill and eventually both passed away.
“I think I had an experience of homesickness, but you know what that wasn’t homesickness, that was parent sickness,” Kim said.
He never experienced homesickness because he never felt his heart was in South Korea.
“Do I miss that place, yeah, I do miss that place. Do I really miss that place, that’s a different story – I do miss it, but living in the States far from your home, homesickness is no longer the word,” he said.
Moving from Korea to Indiana was difficult for him, but each move since has been easier still – Indiana to Iowa, Iowa to Michigan, and finally from Michigan to Albany.
“When I first have an interview here [at Saint Rose] one of the search committee asks me, ‘oh Jin you are from a totally different culture and you in Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, all Midwestern right? So called Midwestern culture, do you think you can adjust well?’ Come on, I’m the man of adjusting, really I never have an adjustment problem,” he said of his chameleonlike abilities.
Since that day over five years ago, Professor Jin Kim has become a fixture in the halls of the Hearst Center for Interactive Communications. Students tremble and whisper about taking the dreaded introduction to communication theory class, to then have to tackle its sister class – research in communications, but that “evil devil” of a professor as he called himself really only wants to give all he can to his students.
“I’m going to put my whole energy for the next 74 minutes and I want every minute count so yes, I’m very proud of that. I’m passionate and I enjoy my teaching and especially if students read the materials then I’m just flying because I felt my conversation is productive,” Kim said.
“My conversation is not what I planned because our conversation lets me learn something from them and that’s productive. It’s good for the student and it’s good for me.”
