Name: Andrea Kim
Hometown: Brookline, MA
Major: Neuroscience and Behavior, Pre-med track
Minor: Studio Art
Year: Class of 2017
Who is your favorite professor?
I really like Gail Hornstein, she’s a psychology professor. She’s really strict but she’s one of those people at the end of the year you realize you learned a lot from. I also like Ken Colodner, I had him my first year. Their classes are both really good, I recommend Gail Hornstein’s Research Methods. I definitely recommend science people take one of Colodner’s classes. But my favorite class was Drawing I: Visual Exploration taught by Nathan Margalit—that was a great class.
How did you start out on Mount Holyoke News, and why did you join?
I actually started as a writer for my high school newspaper. I usually wrote movie reviews and a lot of sports articles. One of them actually got published on my school’s website and was cited on Wikipedia for [the movie] Lincoln. The paper wanted me to come in and sketch out what I wanted the layout to look like, so I got into layout and later I took over my high school newspaper’s layout. I did that for about three years. My school was very competitive with newspapers, so we would enter all these competitions. So I wanted to continue that, and I realized that Mount Holyoke News wasn’t a place where layout was appreciated. I wanted to change that so I redesigned the layout and set strict rules for the assistant layout editors to follow.
How did the paper look before you joined?
A lot of misplaced photos, a lot of misplaced headlines, a lot of things weren’t aligned. It was very disorganized. Now, we’re changing more towards being visually appealing and easy to follow.
What is your role at Mount Holyoke News today?
I’m the Co-Managing Editor, and my job is to train the layout assistants and writing assistants. I make the paper look coherent and visually appealing, and I want the readers to be able to read the paper really easily. I coordinate creative arts on the paper, so I manage all the photos, graphics, infographics, fonts, and where the text goes in the layout.
How long do you spend on the paper each week?
About 20 hours.
Are there any other orgs or activities you are involved with on campus?
I used to do show choir, but I didn’t have time and so I couldn’t continue. I’m on the Emergency Medical Team and I’m trying to get my national EMT registry certification, so hopefully I’ll be able to work as an EMT on campus. I’m also working at the CDC as an experiential learning leader, which is basically analyzing internships and how people get jobs.
What do you want to do when you graduate?
For two years, I want to be an EMT. And after that, hopefully I’ll be able to support myself through medical school; I want to be a neurosurgeon.
Do you have any pets?
I have a toy poodle, his name is Toto, he’s three years old and he’s about as big as my forearm. He’s really cute, he eats a lot, though, so he gained a lot of weight. He weighs a lot more than he’s supposed to. He’s really shy. He’s scared of leaves, for some reason. I’m not sure how that happened, but whenever he sees leaves rolling on the ground he barks at them. It’s so cute!