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Meet JSOM Student Cat Kim
Cat Kim is pursuing their Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with an Innovation and Entrepreneurship concentration at the Naveen Jindal School of Management. They are on track to graduate in December 2023.
Kim is a U.S. Army Veteran and a recipient of the Charles and Christina Quinn Award for Jindal School veterans.
Choosing UT Dallas
“I was a military brat for a year,” they said. “I lived with my uncle and aunt in Germany on an army base. I didn’t know what I wanted to do, so I joined the miliary. The job that I chose was an 88 Mike, and that’s a motor transport operator. Fancy way of saying truck driver. So if you see this giant truck, that’s what I drove. I was in a helicopter unit so I got to cross train into fueling the helicopters and arming them.”
After about four years of service, Kim left the military and started working for a prepaid cellphone company. They worked their way from auditing, to opening stores, and then finally to working as a general manager for stores in New Orleans and Baton Rouge. Deciding that college would be the best next step for their life, Kim returned to Dallas.
Kim transferred from Dallas College to The University of Texas at Dallas when they decided to go to business school. While selecting a school, Cat visited the UT Dallas campus with a friend and was extremely impressed after seeing the campus food delivery robots.
“I said, wow, this is a college that’s really about the future,” they said. “After that I joined.”
Life on Campus at JSOM
Kim will typically start their day by going to the UT Dallas Military and Veteran Center, getting a cup of coffee, and saying hello to their support network. They do some homework and get in some study time and then head to classes.
Balancing school and their work with the UT Dallas chapter of the Student Veterans of America is a daily challenge, but Kim prioritizes taking care of themself.
“My student veterans said, ‘Hey, I know you were in the military,” Kim said. “I know you can do 24 hours. But you’re going to burn yourself out. And if you burn yourself out, then you can’t be the best version of yourself for whatever you’re trying to do. I decided this semester to make sure I get eight hours of sleep. At least twice a month, I’ll try to have an off-day and I’ll have a softer day and I’ll hang out with my friends and I’ll do something light like just doing the administrative portion of a group or just responding to emails.”
Taking things one week at a time and leaning on the support of their friends and mentors has helped Kim show up to new opportunities with energy and enthusiasm.
Faculty Help Along the Way
Kim is especially grateful for the help and mentorship of JSOM faculty and staff. One faculty member Kim names as influential is adjunct professor Sean Owens, who teaches an introductory course on Information Technology.
“He exposed me to IT and all these tech things that I never knew about,” Kim said. “I took his course and he presented it in a way that I could easily understand and consume. I used some of what he taught in my interview with Cisco, and I got an internship. I never thought I’d get into Cisco, so that was really cool.”
Overcoming Obstacles and Finding Success
Kim says that learning to put in the time and figuring out the correct tools allowed them to start achieving more in the classroom.
“When I graduated high school, I had a 2.45 GPA,” they said. “I would have never thought that I would be thinking about getting my MS-MBA. I never would have thought I would have a 3.5 GPA. I did that by having better grades and applying myself.”
Kim is continually humbled when other students ask them how they were able to land opportunities.
“After those accomplishments that I did, people actually said, ‘How did you do that?’” Kim said. “I’ve never had people ask me that. So now it’s been my motivation of keeping it afloat so I can continue to be an inspiration for others.”
Looking to the Future
Up next on Kim’s academic and professional journey is a summer internship at Cisco, which will fulfill their last credit hours for their undergraduate degree.
After graduation in December, Kim plans to pursue their MS-MBA double degree, majoring in management science with a concentration in systems engineering and management.
